



Book. 



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1887 
Resources of Dakota. 

Ad Official Publication Compiled by the 

COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION, 

Under Authority Granted by the Territcrial Legislature. 

CONTAINING DESCRIPTIVE STATEMENTS AND GENERAL INFORMATION RE- 
LATING TO THE SOIL, CLIMATE, PRODUCTIONS; ADVANTAGES AND 
DEVELOPMENT— AGRICULTURAL, MANUFACTURING, COM- 
MERCIAL, AND MINERAL— THE GEOGRAPHY 
AND TOPOGRAPHY OF THE TERRITORY. 

The Vacant Public Lands 

AND HOW TO OBTAIN THEM; 



TOGETHER WITH 

DIAGRAMS, STATEMENTS, TABLES AND SUMMARIES SHOWING THE PRODUCTS 
AND PROGRESS OF THE TERRITORY AND OF EACH 
COUNTY, SEPARATELY. 



TERRITORY OF DAKOTA! 

DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION AND STATISTICS. 

P. F. McCLURE, COMMISSIONER, 

PIERRE. 



SIOUX FALLS, DAKOTA : 

ARGUS-LEADER COMPANY, PRINTEBS. 
1887. 



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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

Credit is due A. T. Andreas, compiler of Andreas' Historical Atlas of 
Dakota ; Dr. T. C. Duncan, editor of the United States Medical Investiga- 
tor, Chicago, and publisher of several pamphlets descriptive of Dakota ; 
Kand, McNally & Co., Chicago, publishers of the Bankers' Directory; 
O. H. Holt, compiler of ''Dakota, 1885;" and to the newspapers generally 
throughout the Territory for much of the data contained in this work. 

Thanks are also returned to the county auditors, clerks and treasurers ; 
city clerks and postmasters; ministers, colleges, organizations and individ- 
uals, on whom (owing to the lack of any efficient law governing the collec- 
tion and compilation of the statistics of the Territory), the compher^has 
depended for favors and assistance in obtaining local information. 



INTRODUCTORY.— DAKOTA IN 1887. 



THE PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERRITORY DURING THE PAST YEAR. 

The Territory has had another year of wonderful growth in population 
and wealth. The reports from all sections tell of a decided increase of im- 
migration as compared with the same date of last year, and that the rush of 
newcomers has kept well up to the average of previous seasons. As a mat- 
ter of course the localities along the line of the railway extensions, and the 
districts having large areas of the public domain subject to entry under 
the homestead and pre-emption laws, are receiving the greatest number of 
settlers. Generally speaking, the people who go West to find homes are 
those of limited means, either having met with reverses or else just making 
a start in life, and are attracted to a new country by the cheapness of the 
lands. Therefore it is quite to be expected, so long as there remains land 
to be had for the asking, with just as rich soil, just as nutritious pasturage 
as that of the older settled regions, the larger per cent, of the home-seek- 
ers will flow into those counties where the whistle of the locomotive is 
never heard or where the sound is a reverberation from the distance. 

Then, too, Dakota's past development assures the newcomer that, no 
matter how great the extent of virgin soil surrounding him to-day, to- 
morrow he will be on the confines of a thrifty village, with schools, 
churches, and a busy, bustling, Western town at his very door. 

The Right Rev. William H. Hare, missionary bishop of southern Dakota, 
writing to the New York Herald, tells in graphic words of the rapid 
growth of new communities in the Territory. The bishop says: 

" Language cannot exaggerate the rapidity with which these communi- 
ties are built up. You ["may stand ankle deep in the short burnt grass of 
an uninhabited wilderness — next month a mixed train will glide over the 
waste and stop at some point where the railway has decided to locate a 
town. Men, women and children will jump out of the cars, and their chat- 
tels will be tumbled out after them. From that moment the building be- 
gins. The courage and faith of these pioneers are something extraordi- 
nary. Their spirit seems to rise above all obstacles. I have ridden into a 
Dakota valley and pitched my tent. After my supper, lolling upon my 
buffalo robe, I have looked around and seen nothing but a wolf that looked 



8 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

down from a hill into the valley to see who the intruder was. When I vis- 
ited that valley the next year, I saw a long train of Pullman palace cars. 
In that same trip I camped on the flat bottom land near the Missouri river. 
There was no sign of civilization there but a log hut with a mud roof. It 
was the home of a Frenchman who had married an Indian woman. With- 
in the year I revisited the spot and saw a town. It has increased since to 
2,000." 

The county of this year, the name of which is learned only by consult- 
ing the map, may next harvest contribute to the world's food-supply a mil- 
lion bushels of wheat of the finest grade known to the markets of the 
globe. 

IMMIGRATION. 

The building westward through the northern counties of Dakota of the 
St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railroad, and the construction by this 
and the Northern Pacific railway companies of numerous north and south 
feeders have turned a great tide of immigration toward the splendid agri- 
cultural and stock lands of the Mouse river, Turtle Mountains, Devils 
Lake and other regions thereby made easily accessible. This, together 
with the largest crop ever harvested in many sections of northern Dakota, 
has made it almost impossible to keep pace with the development going 
on in the districts named. A few of the more westerly counties, having 
scarcely a single inhabitant at the beginning of the year, are now well 
populated with thrifty farmers and residents of the towns which have 
grown up literally in a day. 

The increased activity in the line of railway building through the central 
portion of the Territory, and the fine crops gathered by the farmers there, 
together with a considerable quantity of land remaining vacant in many of 
the counties adjacent to the Missouri river, have attracted a large number 
of people to these localities. 

Early in the spring a large colony of settlers, coming direct from Ver- 
mont and New England points, located in Hettinger county, about twenty- 
five miles south of the Northern Pacific railway. Although this colony 
decided upon a location in an unsurveyed and almost unexplored county, 
nevertheless its members have already established a town, erected com- 
fortable homes and harvested an abundant crop. Their successful venture 
insures for the future a heavy immigration to the large area of vacant lands 
of the west Missouri country — especially from the New England and Mid- 
dle states. 

The Red River valley in the north and all the counties of older Dakota 
in the south, central and east, with their large number of growing and 
prosperous cities, have long since reached that stage of stability, wealth 
and independence which insures a constant and ever-increasing ratio of 
added population and improvement. Here the splendidly developed 
forms and busy towns, full of enterprise, rivalry and life, give one the im- 
pression of living in a state of many years' growth, rather than in a Terri- 
tory of youthful age. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 9 

The completion last year of a line of railway to Rapid City and the cer- 
tainty of the addition, at an early date, of other railway facilities, has re- 
sulted in a marked growth of the varied interests of the Black Hills coun- 
try by placing that hitherto isolated section in better communication with 
theEastern world. Nature has certainly lavished her gifts upon that area 
of Dakota, known as the Black Hills, with a generous hand, and it but re- 
mains for man to enact his small part in order to develop here the richest, 
grandest region in all the Union. What with the productive soil of her 
valleys and foothills, the splendid pasturage and excellent protection fur- 
nished her herds of cattle, sheep and other stock, and her inex- 
haustible supply of precious minerals, iron, tin, mica, salt, coal, gyp- 
sum, asbestos, petroleum and other valuable deposits, the saying that the 
Black Hills might be walled in by an impassable barrier and still be self- 
supporting, is almost a truism. 

During the year ending June 30, 1887, 2,007, 281 acres of the public do- 
main in Dakota were newly filed on, and our population at that time, based 
on careful estimates, having the business transacted by the several United 
States land offices in the Territory as a foundation, amounted to very nearly 
570,000. As Dakota's immigration this year averages about 7,000 new- 
comers each month, it is easy to see that we shall have, by the end of 
December, 1887, a population of quite 000,000. 

In addition to the annual rush of seekers after free land, there have been, 
throughout the Territory — especially in those sections where the supply of 
Government land is pretty well exhausted — an unusual number of pur- 
chasers of cheap deeded lands. In many of the counties having railroads, 
school houses, flourishing towns and the other advantages of old settled 
communities, deeded land is to be had at a small advance over what it cost 
the original settler for improvements and Government fees. 

Owing to the rapid advance in the market value of Dakota realty, these 
opportunities of obtaining good deeded lands at so low a price, cannot last 
a great while longer, and discreet investors will accept them wherever 
offered. 

The agricultural, manufacturing, commercial and mining interests are all 
receiving their share of the wealth of investment that has been pouring 
into the Territory for several years past, and the outlook generally may be 
considered a very happy one. 

CROPS OF THE YEAR. 

And now that the season is ended, the farmers of every locality, be it 
north, central or south Dakota, the Black Hills or the Red River valley, 
all are more than gratified with Nature's kind return of a bountiful harvest. 
The farmer's vocation, as well as other callings, is not always attended with 
success, and the glorious hopes of spring and summer ofttimes end only in 
a disappointment of the expected harvest. And especially has this been 
true of the year 1887 in many localities of the West and Northwest, where 
the most disastrous failures known for years are the sole record of a sum- 
mer's labor and toil on the part of the farmer. 



10 RESOURCES' OF. DAKOTA. 

Dakota, however, adds another to her annual records of marvelous har- 
vests, and conies before the world with the grandest yield ever credited to 
any state of the Union. The snows of the winter placed the ground in ex- 
cellent shape for spring work; plowing, seeding, harrowing, and the 
various farming operations followed from the first of March with little or 
no interruption from bad weather; April showers vivified and nourished 
the germ and the warm summer days of May and June strengthened and 
matured its growth, and July and August saw the weather propitious for har- 
vesting and the final operations of saving and housing the crop. It now 
remains but to state that the thresher has proved the truth of our asser- 
tions made earlier in the season, viz.: that Dakota's wheat crop harvested 
in 1887 not -only exceeds any previous record of this grand Territory, and 
the record of any state of the Union, but will amount to one-seventh 
the entire crop of the United States in 1886. As for corn, no one in the 
years past could have even harbored a hope that the Territory would 
ever be able to herald forth a yield in any one season exceeding 20,000,000 
bushels of that crop. But such is a fact, and with the probability, too, of 
increasing that amount considerably if the splendid condition and mag- 
nificent showing of this crop continue to the close of the % harvest season. 
Barley, oats, rye, flax, buckwheat and vegetables never promised better, 
and taking the average throughout the length and breadth of the Terri- 
tory, Dakota, in all her wonderful career, never produced the equal of the 
crops of 1887. 

There may be localities where the lack of moisture at the proper time 
or other until vorable circumstances, has resulted in unsatisfactory returns 
to the farmer ; but, when we consider the vast surface of the Territory, 
equaling in extent the combined area of all of New England, together 
with the states of New York and Pennsylvania, it can never be expected 
d season will be so generally favorable as to result in a perfect crop to every 
county. 

There has been comparatively little damage from hail or other disastrous 
storms, and no loss whatever from ravages by chinch bugs. For the whole 
Territory the yield of the crops for 1887 is far above the average of any 
previous season, and this occurring in a year of quite general misfortune 
to farmers elsewhere, is certain to insure to Dakota an era of greater pro- 
gress, wider fame and heavier immigration than ever before. 

THE GROWTH OP DAKOTA CITIES AND TOWNS. 

The growth of Dakota towns is simply marvelous. The oldest resident, 
one who has long been accustomed to the push and activity of western life, 
can scarcely keep pace with the changes at present occurring about him. 
Electric lights, water works, street railways, artesian wells, graded streets, 
and public improvements of every description, are being added to the list 
of advantages heralded forth by such of the older cities as had not already 
accomplished these feats of enterprise. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. U 

RAILROAD EXTENSIONS. 

As for railway extensions, those already completed and others projected 
and under contract, they puzzle the most careful map-maker in his at- 
tempt to outline them all. A Dakota town old enough to be divested of 
swaddling clothes, and without expectations of additional railway facili- 
ties, is yet to be heard of. Though -the season for railway building is not 
3^et passed, more than seven hundred miles of completed track have been 
added to the 3,491 to the credit of the Territory on the first of January, 
1887, making the railroad mileage of Dakota to-day 4,207 miles, and lines 
are being still further extended in all directions. 

The four great railway corporations of the Northwest, viz.: the Chicago, 
Milwaukee and St. Paul, the Chicago and Northwestern, the Northern Pa- 
cific, and the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba, are extending their 
main and branch lines wherever there remains a tempting morsel of un- 
occupied territory. Then, too, a spirit of rivalry and competition in the 
matter of obtaining a share in the traffic of prosperous localities, has 
sprung up between the railway corporations named which can only end 
to the great advantage of the farmers and shippers of the Territory in 
cheapening the cost of transportation. 

The Northern Pacific has completed a line covering the rich Valley of 
the Red River, from Grand Forks to Pembina, (through counties hitherto 
traversed only by the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba), and has ex- 
tended its Fargo and Southwestern branch from La Moure to Edgely, 
connecting there with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, and furnish- 
ing a new line of communication between the systems north and south. 

The St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba, not content with the accom- 
plishment of the most stupendous feat of railway construction on record — 
building, since the first of April, 1887, some five hundred miles of track 
between Minot, Ward county, Dakota, and Great Falls, Montana, at the 
rate of from five to ten miles a day, is now looking with a covetous eye on 
the territory surrounding the prosperous cities of southern Dakota. With- 
in the year past this company has built its lines into the two leading cities 
of central Dakota — Aberdeen, Brown county, and Watertown, Coding- 
ton county — and is now projecting extensions reaching nearly every city 
of any size in the south or southeast, two of which (the one reaching 
Huron, in Beadle county, and the other Sioux Falls, in Minnehaha county), 
will, in all probability, be completed early in 188S. 

In addition to these undertakings, the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Mani- 
toba has ironed and is operating its branch lines, graded last season ; one 
from Rugby Junction, on the main line, to Bottineau, the county seat of 
Bottineau county; one from the Minnesota state line, through Grant 
county, to Watertown, the county seat of Codington county, and another 
from Rutland, Sargent county, to Ellendale, in Dickey county. It is now 
busily engaged in the extension of the Park River branch, through Walsh 
county, to Langdon, the county seat of Cavalier county, with the promise 



12 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

of completing the same by the first of November of the present year. 
The Chicago and Northwestern has extended and is operating its road 
between Faulkton, Fanlk county, and Gettysburg, Potter county, and in- 
tends filling in, this season, the gap between Verndon and Groton, in 
Brown county. 

The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul has completed a road from Lake 
Preston, Kingsbury county, to Bristol, Day county, and has ironed 
the grade of last season, from Roscoe, in Edmunds county, to a point 
several miles beyond Hillsview, in McPherson county. This company 
also has imview the extension, through the Lake Traverse Indian reser- 
vation, of the branch line now constructed sixteen miles northwest from 
Wilmot, Roberts county. 

The grade of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha, finished in 
1886, between Salem, McCook county, and Mitchell, Davison county, is 
now ironed and in operation. 

In the Black Hills, the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley railway 
company is extending its road from Rapid City, Pennington county, to 
Sturgis, Lawrence county, and promises to run regular trains to the latter 
place before the expiration of the year. 

The Minneapolis and Pacific will be in operation from Ransom, Sargent 
county, through to Monango, Dickey county, by November 1, 1887, when 
still another connection will be finished between the railway systems oc- 
cupying the northern and southern territories. 

This extension, (the Minneapolis and Pacific), is already completed as 
far west as Oakes, Dickey county, and connects there with the Northern 
Pacific, leading north, and the Chicago and Northwestern reaching south- 

The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern, with its terminals at 
Watertown, in Codington county, and Sioux Falls, Minnehaha county, 
seems to rest in contented mood for the present. 

The Illinois Central has a large force at work grading a line from Chero- 
kee, Iow r a, to Sioux Falls, Minnehaha county, and will make its first ap- 
pearance on this, the most interesting battle-ground of rival railway cor- 
porations, within the course of a few months. 

The Aberdeen, Bismarck and Northwestern has a grade finished from 
Aberdeen, Brown county, to Bismarck, Burleigh county, which, when 
ironed, (and this will be done early in 1888), will furnish the first contin- 
uous line, uniting north and south Dakota. 

The Duluth, Watertown and Pacific, (an extension of the St. Paul, 
Minneapolis and Manitoba), has graded a road between Watertown, in 
Codington county, and Huron, Beadle county, with the expectation of 
completing and ironing the same at an early date. This company — the 
Manitoba — is also pushing toward completion the grade of an extension 
from Willmar, Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, Minnehaha county, Dakota. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 13 

The line is to be graded to Sioux Falls before the close of the building 
season, and ironed early in the spring of 1888. 

The grade of the Forest City and Watertown road will be finished this 
year, between Forest City and Hoven, Potter county, and the work of 
ironing and completing the track will be begun next season. 



The mileage of newly constructed road in Dakota, as undertaken by 
each company, to be completed in 1887, is given below: 



Name of company. 

Northern Pacific railway : 

Grand Forks to Pembina 

La Moure to Edgely 

St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railway: 

Mi not to Ft. Buford 

Rugby Junction to Bottineau 

Park River to Langdon 

Rutland to Ellendale 

Minnesota line to Watertown 

Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha railway: 

m Salem to Mitchell 

Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway: 

Bristol to Lake Preston 

Wilmot extension 

Roscoe to Eureka x 

Chicago and Northwestern railway: 

Faulkton to Gettysburg 

Verndon to Groton 

Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley railway: 

Rapid City to Sturgis 

Minneapolis and Pacific railway: 

Ransom to Monango 

Total miles of newly constructed road in 1887 



Miles of new 


roadconstr'd 


in 1887. 




96 




21— 


117 


142 




38 




40 




49 




46— 


315 


33— 


33 


73 




10 




26— 


109 


44 




14— 


58 



59— 59 



716 



And the total mileage of each company in the Territory, on the comple- 
tion of these extensions, will be as follows: 



Name of company. 

Black Hills and Fort Pierre railway 

Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern railway... 

Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway 

Chicago and North western railway ' 

Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha railway 
Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley railway...'.. 

Minneapolis and Pacific railway 

St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railway 

Northern Pacific railway 

Minneapolis and St. Louis railway 

Total miles of railroad in 1887 



Miles of road 
in operation. 



15 

83 
,155 
761 

88 
110 

88 
.037 
830 

40 



4,20- 



14 EESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 

The following roads have been graded, but probably will not be ironed 
until 1888: 

Name of company. ^raded. 1 * ^ 

Aberdeen, Bismarck and Northwestern railway: 

From Aberdeen, Brown county, to Bismarck, Burleigh 

county 160 

Duluth, Watertown and Pacific railway: 

From Watertown, Codington county, to Huron, Beadle 

county I 72 

Forest City and Watertown railway: 

From Forest City to Hoven, Potter county 30 

Duluth and Willmar railway : 

From Willmar, Minnesota, to Sioux Falls, Minnehaha 

county, Dakota. Graded in Dakota 

Illinois Central railway : 

From Cherokee, Iowa, to Sioux Falls, Minnehaha coun 
ty, Dakota. Graded in Dakota 16 



Total miles of road graded in 1887, but not ironed 



301 



Before the expiration of the year 1887 there will have been added to 
the railroad mileage of the Territory in a single season, close to one thous- 
and miles of new track and to what extent during the coining year Dakota 
will be interlaced with the iron thread of steam communication it is 
utterly impossible to predict, though it is quite safe to say that it will more 
than double the mileage built-in 1887. 

Dakota now has more miles of completed railroad than either California, 
Tennessee, Nebraska, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Arkansas, 
Alabama, or Georgia; twice as many miles as either Massachusetts, South 
Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, Mississippi, or Kentucky; more than three 
times the railway mileage of either Maine, Maryland, West Virginia, 
Louisiana or Oregon; more than four times as many miles of railway 
as either New Hampshire, Vermont or Connecticut; thirteen times the 
railway mileage of Delaware, and twenty times that of Rhode Island. 

MANUFACTORIES. 

A commendable interest is being displayed by many towns in the en- 
couragement of manufactories. Flour mills, creameries, tow mills, pack- 
ing houses, wagon and carriage factories, broom factories, brick, terra 
cotta and stone works, plow factories, foundries, polishing works and 
other industries are scattered everywhere throughout the Territory and 
constantly increasing in numbers. The field of manufacturing is a new 
one for Dakota and one capable of illimitable development. With an 
inexhaustible supply of cheap fue- underlying every section of the north 
and west, with natural gas actually discovered, with artesian wells fur- 
nishing power for small factories at literally no expense, and the splendid 
water power of favored localties; with gold, silver, iron, lead, copper, tin, 
mica, salt, gypsum, asbestos, petroleum and many other deposits in ad- 
dition to the different varieties of valuable building and ornamental 
stones, it would be strange indeed if capital did not step in to assist in 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 15 

the development of such magnificent resources. The wonder is that the 
opportunities for building up prosperous manufactories as presented by a 
number of localities have been so long neglected. However the Territory 
is to be congratulated from the feet that the present year witnesses the in- 
auguration of an increased interest in this new source of wealth, and the 
hastening forward of the day when many of our food supplies and articles 
of commerce will have the imprint of a home factory. 

LIVE STOCK. 

The stock interests are growing quite as rapidly as other branches of 
industry. The natural grasses of Dakota possess nutritious and strength 
producing qualities not excelled in all the world, and the stock-raiser 
has fifty million acres of such kind of forage on which to feed his flocks. 

Every year notes a marked improvement in the quality of the stock- 
bred and numerous herds have now at their head, leaders with as fine 
a pedigree as is recorded in the herd-books of the country. In the older 
counties a large acreage is planted to corn, oats, etc., and an ever increas- 
ing attention is given to the raising of the best grades of improved stock. 

in conclusion. 

It is apparent therefore that the year 1887 has recorded an era of great 
prosperity for Dakota. The yield of the crops has been such as to astonish 
the world; the cities and villages are vying with each other in growth 
and development ; manufactories and public enterprises are being fostered 
everywhere, the great railway corporations of the West are in a constant 
strife to obtain vantage ground in the Territory and a flood r* immigra- 
tion is rapidly covering the vacant area of Government lands. 

The confidence displayed by cautious Eastern capitalists in the invest- 
ment of their fortunes in Dakota bonds, in Dakota lands, in railway ex- 
tensions, manufactories and public improvements, should convince the 
most skeptical that the Territory is fast assuming her position of the 
wealthiest, most populous, most prosperous empire of the Northwest. 

In-order to spread broadcast reliable information concerning the op- 
portunities offered by the Territory for the _ acquirement of a"home"on the 
finest agricultural land in the world, amid a cultured, moral and refined 
people, where there are schools, churches and all the "advantages enjoyed 
by the most 'civilized and progressive communities, — this official nanmhlet 
has been published under authority conferred Jby the Territorial Legisla- 
ture. In its pages will be found rather an extended^description of those 
matters which are thought to be of interest to home-seekers and inves- 
tors, and, while it has been hastily written and compiled under the dis- 
advantage of a worse than useless law governing the gathering and compi- 
lation of statistics, yet the facts as set forth are fairly and truthfully 
stated and with a desire to belittle rather than to exaggerate or deceive. 



16 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



HISTORICAL. 

FIRST LEGISLATION BY CONGRESS. 

Dakota (Indian name signifying leagued, confederated), was a part of 
the Territory purchased in 1803 of France by President Thomas Jefferson 
for the sum of $16,000,000. October 1, 1803 that part of the new purchase 
lying south of Arkansas was formed into the " Territory of Orleans." 
The remaining portion — which included the present states of Arkansas, 
Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, part of Colorado and the 
territories of Dakota, Montana, the Indian Territory and a portion of 
Wyoming, — became the District of Louisiana, and the governing power 
was vested in the governor and judges of what was then designated 
" Indiana Territory." 

July 1, 1805, by act of Congress "District" of Louisiana was designated 
as the "Territory" of the same name and the legislative power placed in 
the hands of a governor and three judges who were named by the Presi- 
dent and Senate of the United States. December 7, 1812, the name of the 
Territory was again changed, this time to "Territory of Missouri" and the 
power — limited in extent was granted the people residing therein, to elect 
a legislative body. 

The Territory of Michigan was created by act of June 28, 1834 and in- 
cluded that part of Dakota lying east of the Missouri and White Earth 
rivers, in addition to the present states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and 
Minnesota. 

July 3, 1836, Congress established the Territory of Wisconsin which in- 
cluded the eastern half of Dakota. 

The Territory of Iowa was organized June 12, 1838, and a part of Dakota 
was contained within its boundaries. 

March 3, 1849, Minnesota Territory was established which covered the 
eastern part of Dakota. 

Until the organization of Nebraska Territory May 30, 1854, of which it 
became a part, that portion of Dakota lying west of the Missouri and 
White Earth rivers was known as "Mandan Territory." 

From May 11, 1858, the date when Minnesota became a state, up to the 
organization of a territorial form of government, April 2, 1861, Dakota was 
without legal name or existence.. 

A bill (S. 475) " To organize the Territory of Dakota, and for other pur- 
poses" was introduced, on leave, in the Senate by Hon. Graham N. Fitch, 
December 20, 1858, and referred to the Committee on Territories. The 
committee was, on February 8, 1859, discharged from further consideration 
of the bill. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 17 

A bill (S. 555) "To provide temporary governments for the Territories 
of Dakota and Arizona, and to create the office of surveyor-general in the 
Territory of Arizona," was reported from the Committee on Territories, 
Senate, by Hon. James S. Green, February 4, 1859. No action thereon 
was taken by the Senate. 

A bill (S. 562) "To provide a temporary government for the Territory 
of Dakota, and to create the office of surveyor-general therein, was re- 
ported from Committee on Territories, Senate, by Hon. James S. Green 
February 14, 1861; passed that house February 2(5; passed the House of 
Representatives March 1, and was signed by President Buchanan, March 
2, 1861. President Lincoln soon after appointed the Territorial officers 
and, on May 27, 1861, the date of the commencement of civil history in 
Dakota, Governor William Jayne arrived at Yankton to enter upon the 
discharge of his duties. March 2, 1868, (12 stats, p. 701), an act was passed 
by Congress prescribing the qualifications and powers of the governor and 
regulating his power of veto. 

May 26, 1864, (13 stats, p. 92), a part of the Territory of Idaho was tem- 
porarily incorporated with ami made a part of Dakota. 

April 28, 1870, (14 stats, p. 98), the boundary line between Dakota Terri- 
tory and the state of Nebraska was re-defined. 

February 17, 1873, (17 stats, p. 464), the western boundary of Dakota 
Territory was re-adjusted, and a detached portion of the Territory, under 
former erroneous definition was attached to the Territory of Montana. 

LEGISLATION IN REGARD TO THE ADMISSION OF THE TERRITORY AS A STATE. 

A constitutional convention, composeel of delegates from nearly every 
county in Dakota, south of the 46th parallel, assembled at Sioux Falls on 
the 4th of September, 1883, for the purpose of drafting a constitution for a 
proposed new State. The constitution was submitted to the people (south 
of the 46th parallel), on the 3d of November of that year and adopted by a 
majority of 5,522 in a total vote of 19,150. 

Pursuant to an act of the Territorial Legislature approved March 9, 1885, 
a second constitutional convention, composed of delegates representing 
counties south of the 46th parallel, met at Sioux Falls, September 8, 1885, 
framed a second constitution, which was submitted to the people (south 
of the 46th parallel), November 3, of that year and was adopted by a ma- 
jority of 18,561 in a total vote cast of 31,791. At the same time there w r ere 
elected members of the Legislature, state officers and a member of Con- 
gress, and, subsequently, the members elect of the Legislature of the pro- 
posed new State met and selected two Uniteel States senators. 

By an act of the last Territorial Legislature, approved March 11, 1887, 
the question of the division of Dakota is to be submitted to a vote of the 
people of the entire Territory at a special election November 8, of the 
present year, (1887.) 

Following is an exhibit of the various measures introduced in Congress 
(since the forty-fifth session), having in view the division, the admission 
as a wdiole, and the division and admission of the south half of Dakota. 



18 



EESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 








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RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



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20 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

GOVERNORS AND DELEGATES. 

The following is a list of the governors of Dakota appointed by the 
President of the United States, with the terms served by each: William 
Jayne, 1861-63; Newton Edmunds, 1863-66; Andrew J. Faulk, 1866-69; 
John A. Burbank, 1869-74; John L. Pennington, 1874-78; William A. How- 
ard, 1878-80; N. G. Ordway, 1880-84; Gilbert A. Pierce, 1884-87: and Louis 
K. Church, the present executive, appointed February, 1887. 

The Territory since its organization has been represented in Congress 
by the following named delegates: J. B. S. Todd, 1862-64; W. F. Bur- 
leigh, 1864-69; S. L. Spink, 1869-71; M. K. Armstrong, 1871-75; J. P. Kid- 
der, 1875-79; G. G. Bennett, 1879-81; R. F. Pettigrew, 1881-83; John B. 
Raymond, 1883-85; and Oscar S. Gifford, the present incumbent, elected 
in 1884 and re-elected in 1886. 

SESSIONS OF THE TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE. 

The first session of the Territorial Legislature met at Yankton, March 
17, 1862. At first the sessions of the Legislature were annual, but by act 
of Congress in 1869 they were made biennial, and the sessions limited 
in duration to sixty days. Seventeen sessions have been held in all. 

The Territory is apportioned into twenty council and legislative districts, 
represented by twenty-four councilmen and forty-eight representatives, 
being the maximum number of districts, councilmen and representatives 
permitted to the Territory under the act of Congress approved March 3, 
1885. 

Yankton was the capitol of the Territory until 1883, when a capitol 
commission appointed at the preceding session of the Legislature located 
the seat of government at Bismarck. 

EARLY HISTORY OF THE TERRITORY. 

*The first well authenticated account of the Missouri river region, lying- 
bey ond the borders of the present state of Missouri, is found in the jour- 
nals of the expedition of Captains Lewis and Clark, under the patronage 
of President Jefferson's administration in 1804-5-6. This expedition^ 
though it gave very little scientific information touching the great valley 
of the Missouri, nevertheless furnished the most reliable and interesting 
account of the country, its inhabitants and wild game, that had then been 
given to the public. It also gave a very correct idea of the great river 
and its affluents, and was no doubt instrumental in hastening the more 
perfect exploration and settlement of the country. It also gave a fresh 
impetus to the fur trade, and pioneered the way for numerous forts and 
trading posts. The great British and American fur companies were the 
first civilized people to occupy the Territory of Dakota. The earliest of 
these to establish posts on the upper Missouri river was the Missouri fur 
company, organized at St. Louis, Mo., in 1808. At the head of this com- 
pany was Manuel Lisa, a Spanish gentleman, and it is likely that some of 



* The authority for this and following statements regarding early explorations in the: 
Northwest is Andrews' Historical Atlas oi Dakota. The Lakeside Press, Chicago. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 21 

the Choteau family were also connected with it. The company established 
trading posts in Dakota about 1808-10. 

The American fur company, of which John Jacob Astor was president, 
was chartered in 1809. The Northwestern, another fur company, and the 
American were consolidated in 1811. During the war between Great 
Britain and the United States, 1812-15, business was wholly suspended. 
The Great Pacific company was organized after the war by Mr. Astor, and 
business operations were resumed by all the companies, whose employees 
penetrated all parts of the present Territory of Dakota, excepting the Black 
Hills. 

The oldest fur company in America was the Hudson Bay company, 
which was chartered by King Charles II in 1670. About 1811 Lord Sel- 
kirk, a Scottish nobleman, was granted by this company a large tract of 
land lying on both sides of the Red River of the North, and extending as 
far south as the mouth of the Red Lake river. 

Lord Selkirk built a fort at Pembina, a short distance south of the pres- 
ent International line, about 1812. 

The first settler in this region was a French trader, who settled at Pem- 
bina about 1780. The authority for this statement is Mr. Keating, the 
historian of Major Long's expedition, which visited the locality in 1823 
and found the trader still living there. This was the first actual settle- 
ment by white men within the present limits of Dakota. 

Lord Selkirk's fort remained at Pembina until 1823, when rinding it 
was on the American side of the boundary, it was torn down and mostly 
removed to the British side. 

The Columbia fur company was organized in 1822 among individuals 
formerly in the employ of the Hudson Bay company. Their principal 
establishment, or trading post, was on Lake Traverse at the head of the 
Red River, where Major Long found them in 1823. 

The Northwest and Hudson Bay companies, under a consolidated 
arrangement made in 1821, explored and trafficked on the Upper Missouri 
and Yellowstone rivers. 

In 1826, a company called the Rocky Mountain fur company, began 
sending trading expeditions up the Missouri river. In 1832 the old Amer- 
ican fur company of John Jacob Astor became the dominant company in 
the Northwest. Under this company Forts Cedar, George, Lookout and 
others were constructed, and the fur trade became a permanent business 
in the Missouri valley. 

Several trading houses were also erected on the Dakota (James) river 
by a company of which J. Rencontre was a member. About 1829, Pierre 
Choteau of St. Louis, built Fort Pierre on the west bank of the Missouri, 
some four miles above the present site. 

The first steamers to ascend the upper Missouri, as near as can be as- 
certained, were the Yellowstone and Assiniboine, which came up under 
the conduct of Pierre Choteau, about 1830. Previous to this the business 
of the river had been carried on in canoes and barges, or pirogues. 



22 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

In 1839 Fremont and Nicolet ascended the Missouri on the fur com- 
pany's steamers to some point in Dakota, and from thence passed over- 
land to the valley of the Dakota (James) river, and are said to have as- 
cended the latter stream and visited Devils Lake, though there is no well 
authenticated account of the trip recorded. Catlin, the famous Indian de- 
lineator, visited the country in 1841. From that date military and 
private expeditions were numerous. 

The United States Government established a post at Fort Clark, below 
the mouth of Knife river, as early as 1808, followed closely afterward by 
the construction of forts at many points, principally along the Missouri 
river. 

The forts and posts at first established were partly military and partly 
trading posts — the former established by the United States Government, 
and the latter by the great fur companies. 

FIRST SETTLEMENT. 

The first land in Dakota obtained of the Sioux Indians, was at the 
treaty of Traverse de Sioux in 1851, by which the Indians ceded a large 
region in Minnesota and a tract of country along the left bank of the Big 
Sioux river and the southwest side of Big Stone lake, including the cites 
of Sioux. Falls, Flandreau, Brookings, etc., covering substantially the strip 
of country lying between the Big Sioux river and the Minnesota line. 

In the same year the legislature of Minnesota Territory, (which in- 
cluded at the time all of Dakota east of the Missouri river), divided that 
territory into nine counties, Dakota county covering all the region lying 
between St. Paul and the Missouri river, and constituting the sixth coun- 
cil district entitled to two councilmen and one representative in the Min- 
nesota legislature. 

In the fall of 1855, a United States force of 1,200 men, under General W. 
S. Harney, marched from the Platte river to Fort Pierre, where they en- 
camped for the winter. Accompanying this expedition were Captain 
(afterward General) Nathaniel Lyon, who fell at the battle of Wilson's 
creek in 1861; Captain J. B. S. Todd, the first Territorial delegate in Con- 
gress, and Captain Gardner, afterward a general in the Confederate 

army . 
Old Fort Pierre, erected by Pierre Choteau, of St. Louis, about 1829, 

was taken possession of by the United States troops, the Government pay- 
ing Choteau a considerable sum for his improvements. Captain Sully 
was ordered from Fort Abercrombie to Fort Pierre, and marched across 
the country with two companies of infantry, and occupied Fort Pierre un- 
til 1858, when the place was abandoned by the Government, Captain 
Sully removing with his command to Fort Ridgely. 

Old Fort Lookout, near Chamberlain, was occupied by General Harney 
in 1856, but in the spring of 1857 he selected the site of Fort Randall, 
which was erected and occupied in June of that year. Captain Lyon held 
Fort Lookout until 1858, when the place was abandoned. 

The first attempt at settlement in southern Dakota was made at Sioux 



EESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 23 

Falls, in the fall of 1856, by an organization called the Western town com- 
pany, of Dubuque, Iowa. The men who ventured to commence a settle- 
ment were ordered off by the Indians, and returned to Sioux City, Iowa. 
In December following a second attempt was made by members of the 
same company, who took possession of 320 acres of land around the falls. 
In May 1857, other representatives of the company again visited Sioux 
Falls, and began the erection of a small stone house near the upper fall. 
About the same time the Dakota land company, chartered by the Min- 
nesota legislature, made a claim to 320 acres of land immediately south 
of the land held by the Western land company. The members of the 
Dakota land company left St. Paul in a steamer, in May 1857, and pro- 
ceeding to New Ulm on the Minnesota river, traveled thence overland to 
Dakota, striking the Big Sioux river in Brookings county, where they lo- 
cated the town of Medary, named for the governor of Minnesota. Jour- 
neying down the river they located and named Flandreau, in honor of 
Judge Flandreau, of St. Paul, and then pushed on to Sioux Falls, where 
they located land, as before stated, and named the place Sioux Falls City. 

In July of that year an uprising of the Sioux Indians compelled the 
evacuation of all the settlements on the Sioux river. 

In December 1857, the governor of Minnesota appointed the first ofn 
cers of Big Sioux county, now constituting the county of Minnehaha 
Dakota. 

In June 1858, the Indians a second time drove the settlers out of the 
upper valley of the Sioux. 

On the 19th of April, 1858, a treaty was negotiated, by which the Yank- 
tonnais tribe of Sioux Indians ceded all their lands east of the Missouri 
river excepting the present reservation in Charles Mix county. 

From this date settlers came in rapidly, especially in the region border- 
ing on the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers. 

The autumn of 1862 witnessed the blood)- outbreak of the Sioux Indians, 
which resulted in the dreadful massacre at New Ulm, 'Minnesota. The 
inhabitants of all the settlements in southern Dakota fled to Yankton, 
abandoning their crops, herds and dwellings, in their haste to reach a 
place of refuge. The outbreak proved to be of short duration, and the 
settlers soon began to return to their homes. 

In 1861 the War Department authorized the governor of the Territory 
to raise two companies of volunteers for the war. These two companies 
officered by Captains Nelson Miner and William Tripp were stationed the 
following winter among the settlements of southern Dakota. 

In the summer of 1863 an organization known as the "New York col- 
ony" was effected at Syracuse, New York, which delegated Hon. James S. 
Foster, now of Mitchell, to personally visit the West and select locations 
for the colony. In accordance with Mr. Foster's recommendations, about 
one hundred families left New York in the spring of 1864, and settled at 
various points in the Missouri valley between the Big Sioux river and 
Bon Homme, southern Dakota. 



24 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

The assessed valuation of the Territory in 1865 had grown to $158,903. 

During the years 1867-8 the population of the Territory increased rap- 
idly, and many new colonies were organized. A railroad was completed 
to Sioux City, Iowa, near the Dakota line, in 1868, and the rush of immi- 
gration which followed was so great that at the close of that year, the 
population of the Territory was estimated at 12,000. 

By the treaty of April 29, 1868 the Sioux were re-located on their pres- 
ent reservation west of the Missouri— and troubles with the Indians, 
which had so often threatened the early settlements east of the river with 
extinction, were forever at an end. 

The first telegraph line in the Territory was built from Sioux City to 
Yankton in 1870. 

Railway construction was carried on extensively in 1872, and in 1873, 
the Sioux City and Yankton road was completed to the latter place. 

In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills by General Custer's ex- 
pedition. Under an agreement with the Sioux Indians, ratified February 
28, 1877, the Black Hills country was relinquished to the United States and 
immediately taken posession of by a throng of hardy pioneers, miners 
and ranchers. 

The growth and development of Dakota during the decade since 1877, 
as fully detailed in the statistical tables and comparisons making up the 
succeeding pages of this pamphlet, forms one of the most marvelous 
epochs in the history of the settlement of the West. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 25 



GEOGRAPHY OF DAKOTA 



Dakota is situated between the meridians of 96° 25' and 104° 5 / longi- 
tude west from Greenwich, and between the parallels of 42° 28' and 49° 
north latitude, and is located on the northern line of the Republic, about 
midway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Its extreme length 
north and south approximates 430 miles, and east and west 385 miles. 

An official work on the public domain, published in 1888, by authority 
of Congress, estimates the present area of Dakota at 150,932 square miles 
or 96,596,480 acres. 

Dakota is greater in area than either the kingdoms of Norway, Great 
Britain and Ireland, or Italy; more than twice the size of either England 
and Wales, or Turkey in Europe; over four times the size of Portugal and 
nearly live times greater than Ireland or Scotland, and would make ten 
Denmarks or Belgiums. 

The distance from Yankton, on the southeast boundary, in a straight 
line to Pembina, on the northern boundary, is nearly as far as from Chi- 
cago to Memphis, or from New York to Raleigh, N. C, or from "Washing- 
ton to Ottawa, Ont. 

To better comprehend the vastness of Dakota's landed possessions, it 
may be stated that the states of Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, 
Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Delaware, Maryland 
and Massachusetts could all be placed within her boundaries, and yet 
there would be room for another state as large as Massachusetts, which, 
if added, would still leave a place for two additional states the size of 
Connecticut, and with these added, there remains room for two more 
Delawares and six Districts of Columbia— and still the area of Dakota 
would not be covered. 



26 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



TABLE SHOWING THE AREA OF DAKOTA 
In comparison with that of each state and territory of the Union. 



28 NEW YORK, 



27 NORTH CAROLINA, 



ALABAMA, 



25 ARKANSAS, 



24 FLORIDA, 



23 WISCONSIN, 



22 IOWA, 



21 ILLINOIS, 



20 MICHIGAN, 



19 GEORGIA, 



RANK. STATES. 


SQUARE MILES. 


ACRES. 


48 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 




60 


38,400 


47 RHODE ISLAND 


~1 


1,085 


694,400 


46 DELAWARE, 


I 


1,960 


1,254,400 


45 CONNECTICUT, 


I~ 


4,845 


3,100,800 


44 NEW JERSEY, 


■ 


7.455 


4,771,200 


43 MASSACHUSETTS, 


^T 


8,040 


5,145,600 


42 NEW HAMPSHIRE, 
41 VERMONT, 


11 


9,005 
9,135 


5,763,200 

5,846,400 


40 MARYLAND, 


■ 


9,860 


6,310,400 


39 WEST VIRGINIA, 
38 MAINE, 


■ 


24,645 
29,895 
30,170 


15,772,800 
19,132,800 


37 SOUTH CAROLINA, 


mm 


19,308,800 


36 INDIANA, 


ma 


35,910* 
40,000 


22,982,400 


35 KENTUCKY, 


~~SiSSI 


25,600,000 


34 VIRGINIA, 


Kiln 


40,125 


25,680,000 


33 OHIO, 


t\v-'-J 


40,760 


26,086,400 


32 TENNESSEE, 


in 


41,750 


26,720,000 


31 PENNSYLVANIA, 
30 LOUISIANA, 


— ■ 1 


44,985 
45,420 


28,790,400 
29,068,800 


29 MISSISSIPPI, 




46,340 


29,657,200 



18 WASHINGTON TER. 



17 MISSOURI, 



16 INDIAN TER., 



15 NEBRASKA, 



14 MINNESOTA, 



13 KANSAS, 



12 UTAH, 



11 IDAHO, 



10 OREGON, 



47,620 



48,580 



51,540 



53,045 



54,240 



14,450 



>5,475 



1,000 



30,476,800 



31,091,$ 



32,985,600 



33,948,800 



34,713,600 



34,848,000 



35,504,000 



35,840,000 



K§7,430 


36,755,200 


HJ8,980 


37,747,200 


E&880 


42,803,200 


E|,735 


43,990,400 


Sg830 


44,691,200 


Sj.85 


48,758,400 


1$05 


50,691.200 


Kfao 


52,288,000 



52.601,600 



53,J15,600 



60,518,400 



62,448,000 



3 DAKOTA, 



2 CALIFORNIA, 



96,596,480 



99.827.200 



RESOURCES 01 DAKOTA. 



27 



COMPARATIVE TABLE 
Showing the area of Dakota in square miles as also that of some of the Foreign 

Governments. 



Rank (rovernment. 




Squa 


re Miles, 


1 MONACO, 


I 




6 


2 ANDOKEA, 


■ 




198 


3 MONTENEGRO, 


EHi 




1,770 


4 BELGIUM, 


■■ 


11,373 


5 EASTERN ROUMELIA, 


■Btt 




13,500 


6 DENMARK, 


HHffi 




14,553 


7 SWITZERLAND, 


esehs 




15,233 


8 GREECE, 


HBBH) 




19,941 



9 NETHERLANDS, 



10 SERVIA, 



11 BULGARIA. 



12 bosn: 



13 IRELAND. 




14 PORTUGAL, 



15 ROUMANIA, 

16 ENGLAND & WALES, 



17 TURKEY IN EUROPE 



20,527 



20,850 



24,360 



28,125 



31,874 



i,510 



45,642 




62,028 



18 ITALY 



114,296 



19 GT. BRIT. & IRELAND 

20 NORWAY, 

21~DAKOTA, 

22 SWEDEN, 



23 SPAIN, 



120,879 




24 FRANCE. 

25 GERMAN EM. 



A I STRIAN EM 



204,091 




240,943 



TOPOGRAPHY. 

The general topography of the Territory is that of a vast undulating 
plain, which covers about four-fifths of its surface. The great Plateau du 
Coteau du Missouri, of the French explorers, occupies a belt traversing 
the Territory diagonally from the northwest to the southeast. This is not 
the high dividing ridge that it was formerly supposed to be, but simply a 
vast elevated plain, occasionally broken by low hills. A somewhat simi- 
lar plateau, but much less in extent, lies between the Minnesota line and 
the valley of the James river. 

The country west of the Missouri river, (the largest part of which is 
contained within the boundaries of Indian reservations), has much the 
same character, although more broken by hills and buttes, and with the 
advantage of a greater number of streams, which are fringed with con- 
siderable timber. 

" Topographically Dakota may be divisible into two parts — eastern and 
western. The portion west and northwest of the Missouri river is undu- 



28 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Iating. As we approach the southwest line it is rugged and mountainous. 
Here are found the rich mineral lands of the Black Hills. 

The great portion east of the Missouri, or the settled, cultivated part of 
Dakota is chiefly a vast plateau or plain, generally with but little native 
timber. The surface is smooth, even on the undulating portions, is cov- 
ered with a luxuriant growth of grass, and abounds in lakes and rivers, 
many more than are apparent on the maps. Strange as it may seem, the 
lakes are often on the highest grounds. This abundance of moisture 
would suggest swamps, but a team can be driven anywhere at all seasons, 
regardless of established roads. The lakes are chiefly where the water 
does not drain off. Again, the marsh wire-grass is not met, only the up- 
land varieties, chiefly the bunch, blue-joint and the buffalo grasses. Like 
the pampas of South America, the lands furnished an abundance of graz- 
ing for the vast herds of buffalo that roamed over Dakota but a few years 
ago. A boulder here and there on the surface is encountered; otherwise 
there are no rocks or strata of rocks apparent, even on deep digging, with 
the exception of one or two localities. The surface soil is composed of 
two or three feet of black loam (humus), then several feet of brown, 
clayey, gravelly soil, (hard pan). Beneath that, pockets of gravel and 
sand are met, and finally a layer of deep-blue clay is encountered, some- 
times many feet in thickness, and again gravel and sand. In some cases 
well-diggers have come across the stumps of trees (cedar) thirty feet be- 
low the surface. The water in some of the lakes and rivers is slightly al- 
kaline, and occasionally even brackish. Hard water is generally due to 
the large proportion of carbonate of lime, but, in addition to this, Dakota 
soil water, (when alkaline), contains sulphate of soda, sulphate of mag- 
nesia, sulphate of lime, and common salt, all of which give it a brackish 
taste. The soil, however, for this very reason, is peculiarly adapted to 
the growth of wheat, for which Dakota has become so famous." — [" Dakota 
From a Scientific View"; Dr. T. C. Duncan, Chicago. 

MOUNTAINS AND HILLS. 

Properly speaking, there are only two mountainous regions in Dakota, 
known as the Black Hills and Turtle Mountain. The Black Hills, located 
in the extreme southwestern part of the Territory, cover an area in Da- 
kota equal ;to about 40 by 80 miles, or equivalent to 3,200 square miles. The 
Turtle Mountains of Bottineau and Rolette counties in the far northern 
portion of the Territory are a range of high hills dignified by the name of 
mountains, rising a few hundred feet above the prairies. They cover 
an area of about 20x40 miles or 800 square miles. 

The highest point of the Black Hills, Harney Peak, reaches an altitude 
of 8,200 feet above the sea, and the average elevation of the Hills region 
is nearly 6,000 feet, or from 2,500 to 4,700 feet above the surrounding plains. 

The Turtle Mountains are surmounted by only one or two high peaks — 
notably, Butte St. Paul and Bear Butte, which are elevated some 700 feet 
above the surrounding countrv, and 2,300 feet above the sea. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 20 

Both the Black Hills and Turtle Mountains are covered with a consid- 
erable growth of timber, the former principally with pine and the latter 
with oak, aspen, birch., etc. 

The Wessington and Ree Hills in Hand county, are quite prominent 
elevations, as are also the Bijou Hills in Brule county. 

GEOLOGY. 

The geological structure of Dakota covers a wide range of formations, 
from the Archaean of the Black Hills to the fresh water Tertiary and 
Quartenary of the great plains, and the Missouri valley. Scientists say 
that Dakota lay directly in the path of a great continental glacier, which 
in its passage eroded and ground down the loftiest mountains and the 
flintiest of rocks and carried the debris, according to its composition and 
specific gravity, to greater or less distances. This erosion of the ancient 
rocks and mountains must have been enormous to have produced such a 
vast accumulation of drift material, as is found overlaying the plains of 
Dakota. 

Professor Denton, of Massachusetts, a distinguished geologist, has aptly 
described the causes which led to the formation of the deep and rich soil 
of the Red River valley in the following words: "When the cold of the 
glacial period gave place to the present climate, the indications are that 
the change took place instantaneously, and the great ice sheet then cov- 
ering this northern region — in some places a mile or more in thickness — 
was" (by a new inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of its orbit), 
" suddenly introduced to a temperate climate. Melting in the hot sum- 
mer suns, it produced a flood, the effects of which are observable to the 
geologist, from north Minnesota to the Gulf. But such a body of ice 
melted not in one or a dozen summers. For many years lay the great ice- 
field to the north, preventing the passage of waters' in the direction 
the general slope of the country here would have led them, and thus, as 
far south as the slope of the land would permit, a lake existed. At the 
bottom of the lake, mud was continually being deposited, produced by the 
ground down Silurian, Devonian and Cretaceous beds lying to the north, 
over which the ice still for many years continued to move, bearing masses 
of their earthy substances. Boulders, gravel, etc., are covered deep be- 
neath the lake mud, and that mud is now the soil of the country, admi- 
rably adapted to the production of grain best fitted to build up the physi- 
cal system of man." 

And as the soil of this section is the drift and alluvial deposit of glacial 
action, just so was the soil of the great Missouri plateau, the James river 
valley, and, in fact, every foot of the Territory formed. 

The granitic boulders carried down by glacial streams from the Archsen 
regions of Minnesota and Canada are found cropping out along the slopes 
of the bluffs bordering the James and east bank of the Missouri rivers, 
and are frequently discovered in boring wells 40, 60 and 100 feet beneath 
the surface, giving some idea of the depth of the drift deposit. Through- 
out the country east of the Missouri, these granitic boulders are common; 



30 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

west of the river they are fewer and smaller in size, and finally, within a 
distance of a hundred miles, disappear altogether, showing that glacial 
action was confined somewhat to the eastern half of the Territory. 

This theory is very forcibly demonstrated at Pierre, where, on the east 
bank of the Missouri, the hills adjacent to the river are crowned with 
boulders of all sizes, while immediately across the stream not a boulder 
is to be found. 

Prof. Denton speaks of the gradual disappearance of the indications of 
glacial action west of the Missouri river, as follows: 

" From the Missouri river for about sixty miles west on the line of the 
Northern Pacific, we find boulders of granite, gneiss and quartzite dimin- 
ishing in size and number as we go west, till at the distance named they 
disappear from the hills and are found only in the valleys and beds of the 
streams. In the valley of the Green river, 100 miles west of the Missouri 
at Bismarck, I found the last drift fragments where they had been floated 
on ice cakes and dropped, and beyond this westward for eighty miles, and 
probably on to the Rockies, no vestige of drift nor indications of glacial 
action exists. The western part of the United States, except in the high 
mountain regions, was not covered with ice during the glacial period any 
more than was northern Asia. The boulders on the hills west of Mandan, 
(near the Missouri where the Northern Pacific crosses it), and those scat- 
tered over the country east of Bismarck, were dropped by floating ice- 
bergs passing down the Missouri river, whose waters then resembled a 
sea. For boulders to have passed over that nortion of Dakota, the waters 
must have stood 500 feet higher than the nresent level of the Missouri, 
and they then covered a breadth of more than 100 miles." 

At a later period, during the post-glacial days, while the vast ice-field 
was melting away, Dakota is supposed to have been covered by a great 
inland sea, through which flowed the Missouri and other streams, bring- 
ing down the sediment formed by the northern glaciers grinding up the 
rocks around their head-waters. This sediment came from the disinte- 
grated and pulverized rocks of the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations, 
which are generally soft, porous and friable. Subsequently, by the deep 
cuttings of the streams, the waters of this great inland sea were carried 
off to the ocean and the Dakota plains appeared. The surface over every 
part of the Territory has been greatly modified since the glacial period 
by the action of flowing water. The greatest effect has been in the Black 
Hills region, where the cuttings and erosions reach several thousand feet. 
The valleys of the Missouri and other streams have all been cut out since 
the vast blanket of slowly-moving ice covered the land. It is also quite 
probable that several fresh-water lakes have existed since that period, 
besides the great lake of the Missouri valley whose waters have been 
drained off by the cutting of the streams. 

The alkali with which the soil of the Dakota plains is impregnated, has 
been derived, in great part, from the ground-up rocks of the Cretaceous 
and Tertiary periods, which contained quantities of imperfect coal, salts, 
sulphuret of iron, and other chemical ingredients. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 31 

Some have a theory that the coal of the Tertiary formation once ex- 
tended over nearly the whole of Dakota, and that it has been burned out, 
leaving the soil impregnated as now found. This theory is not well sup- 
ported, however, by tangible evidence. 

*The natural history of the peculiar formation of Dakota is, as near as 
geologists can now unravel the mystery of the continent formation, sup- 
posed to be as follows: The infant continent of North America, as it rose 
above the primeval waters, was supposed to be in the shape of a rough 
triangle, with one extremity reaching beyond Winnipeg and the other 
away off beyond Quebec, while the junction was about the union of lakes 
Superior and Huron ; at least the oldest discovered, or Laurentian rocks, 
are along those lines. As the portions to the south and west rose grad- 
ually out of the prehistoric ocean, we can understand that this section 
contained the wealth of the early sediment. * Geologists have arrived at 
the conclusion that the entire area of the United States and territories 
was, during the lower Silurian age,the bed of a comparatively shallow sea.' 
— [Winchell.] Finally the Rocky mountains and the Alleghenies were 
thrown up, walling in the glaciers that subsequently mowed down from 
the upheaved north, grinding oft tne fertile portions of the new continent 
and depositing this with other drift r"Ter this Dakota region, which would 
account for the trees being buried under clay, gravel, sand, soil and other 
debris. This whole Mississippi valley was, as it is sup; osxl, again sub- 
merged at the close of the glacial era, and again to rise, and was, until 
quite recently, a series of shallow lakes. At least that is the recent view 
of the origin of the many prairies. Into these lakes the water of the sur- 
rounding country was drained. The sediment, broken rocks, glacial de- 
bris, and rank vegetation of the long ages, gave a saline character to these 
lake waters. Where they were shut in, like Salt Lake, they became more 
brackish than the ocean. ' Sea water may be regarded as the accumula- 
tion of all the surface drainings of the earth.' — [Brand's Chemistry.] 
Dakota, at this time, was undoubtedly a vast lake, with, at present, unde- 
fined limits. It doubtless extended from the north to the extreme south 
of the Territory, even into Iowa and Nebraska, and from central Minne- 
sota, on the east, to the Missouri river or beyond. This vast lake received 
the wealthy washings from virgin land all around, until finally the water 
became decidedly brackish. The saline ingredients underwent many 
changes, but much was deposited in the sediment at the bottom. It is 
well known that water, especially the saline, forms a precipitate. The 
lake began to overflow and the Dakota, or James river, to the south, and 
the Red River to the north, drained this vast expanse, and luxurious 
grasses took possession of this lake bed with its heavy deposit of organic 
matter, and it became the home of the buffalo, Indians and prairie fires. 
Such, in brief, seems to be the natural hi st ory of this won derful section. 
* "Dakota From a Scientific Point of View"; Dr. T. C. Duncan, Chicago. 



32 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



SOIL. 

The Department of Agriculture, Washington, during the year 1885, in- 
vestigated at some length the chemical composition of different soils, with 
reference to their fertility, and believing the agriculturist will find in the 
chemist's report a fund of information about soils in general, and especi- 
ally as regards the kinds of crops adapted to the prairie soil of Dakota, 
space is given to the following summary: 

The chemical composition of the soil, when taken in connection with 
its physical state and the climatic condition of the locality, is a guide to 
scientific agriculture, which cannot be neglected. All soils are the results 
of the natural disintegration of the rocks by atmospheric agencies, mingled 
with decayed vegetable and animal matter in greater or less proportion. 
Soil is a mixture of sand, either quartzose or feldspathic, clay, carbonate 
of lime and humus, or organic matter, and on the preponderence of one 
or more of these constituents the usual classification of soils are based. 
Whatever their composition and texture, soils are, from a geological 
standpoint, mainly of two sorts, soils of disintegration and soils of trans- 
port. Under the former are comprehended such as arise from the waste 
and decay of the immediately underlying rocks, the limestones, trap, 
granites, and the like, together with a certain admixture of vegetable and 
animal debris, and which are directly influenced in their composition, 
texture and drainage by the nature of the subjacent rocks from which 
they are derived; under the latter are embraced all drift and alluvial 
materials, such as sand, shingly debris, miscellaneous silt and clay, which 
have been worn from other rocks by atmospheric agencies and trans- 
ported to their existing positions by winds, waters or ancient glacier 
actions. 

All exposed rocks break up, in course of time, under the continued 
action of atmospheric agencies, however hard or refractory they may be. 
From the hardest granites, basalts and lavas to the softest limestones and 
marls, all are undergoing this disintegration and the soils to which they 
give rise will vary in depth, composition and texture, according to the 
softness and mineral character of the rocks and the length of time they 
have been subjected to these agencies. The rocks of which feldspar is 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 33 

one of the constituents are the origins of the clays and potash,, which are 
met with in all arable soils. Feldspar is a silicate of aluminium and 
potassium, which in disintegration forms a clay or silicate of aluminium, 
and a silicate of potassium. The primitive and igneous rocks yield soils 
rich in potash and the fossiliferous rocks those rich in phosphoric acid. 
From an agricultural standpoint, the soil, which is the natural storehouse 
and laboratory whence plants derive their supply of food, should present 
different qualities which, according as they are more or less developed, 
exert a considerable influence upon its fertility ; it should be firm enough 
to afford a proper degree of support for the plants that grow on it and yet 
]oose enough to allow the delicate fibers, of the rootlets to extend them- 
selves in all directions in search of the food of which they are in need. 
It must be of such a texture as to allow the free access of air, without 
which plants cannot live; and it must be close enough to retain, for a 
considerable time, the water which falls on it, and yet porous enough to 
allow the excess to drain away. In this respect the nature of the subsoil 
and the depth of the surface soil are both important. When a soil rests 
immediately upon a bed of rocks or gravel, it will naturally be dryer than 
when it rests on clay or marl. 

On the other hand, a clay subsoil may be of great advantage to a sandy 
soil, by enabling it to retain moisture longer in dry weather. Those soils 
are best adapted to agriculture which consist of a mixture of sand with a 
moderate quantity of clay and a little vegetable matter. The ammonia 
floating in the atmosphere is continually being" washed into the soil, 
carried into it by the rains. The clay, oxide of iron, and the organic 
matter contained in the soils, perform the important function of absorp- 
tion. This property of clay may be one of the reasons why clay lands are 
more suitable to wheat than are sandy soils. The amount of moisture re- 
tained by a soil, is generally in direct ratio to its contents of organic 
matter and its state of division. A proper degree of fineness in the parti- 
cles of the soil is very important to obtain, especially if it is subjected to 
drought. During dry weather plants require a soil that is both retentive 
and absorptive of atmospheric moisture and that soil which has this 
faculty will evidently raise a more vigorous growth than one without it. 
The materials which are most influential in soils may be arranged in the 
following order, when this condition of retaining moisture is considered: 
— Organic matter, marls, clays, loams and sands. 

The action of rain carries the soluble ingredients which the plants re- 
quire to their roots and supplies them with the necessary moisture. The 
soil however, must be permeable enough to let the excess water drain 
away. 

The amount of food taken from the soil by wheat is given in the follow- 
ing table from the " Chemistry of the Farm '": 



34 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

WHEAT. 
The weight and average composition of wheat in pounds, per acre (R. Warrington). 



Weight of 
crop— d 


Z '- 

2 -i 


"3 

1 \i \ I 1 1 1 ; i 

Bh x h! f-- Pk O 




3 


Dry. 

Total pure a 




Lbs ' Lbs Lbs 
Wheat, grain (30 bushels)..,.... 1,800 1,530 31 
Straw 3,158 2,653 158 


Lbs Lbs 


Lbs Lbs Lbs Lbs Lbs Lbs Lbs. 

9.7 .9 1.0 3.7 14.3 .2 .5 

18.2 2.: 9.2 4.0 8.4 1.7 110.6 


Total crop 4,958 4,183 189 45 7.8'27.9 3.410.2 7.7 22.7 1.9 111.1 



Iii general, we may say that cereal crops apparently possess a capac- 
ity for feeding on silicates not enjoyed by other crops, and contain a less 
amount of nitrogen than either the root or leguminous crops; neverthe- 
less they respond the most readily to nitrogenous manures. The amount 
of phosphoric acid is the most constant of all the constituent of crops, 
being concentrated in the grain. The root crops contain a large amount 
of potash, and are the most exhausting to the soil in consequence; they 
take up more nitrogen than do the cereals, besides other ash constituents, 
as phosphoric acid. Leguminous crops contain about twice as much ni- 
trogen as do the cereals, and the potash and lime occurs in large propor- 
tions. Silica is nearly absent. They respond most readily to potash 
manures. 

The growth of forests is far less exhausting to a soil than are most ordi- 
nary farm crops, especially where the leaves from the trees are left to 
manure the ground by their decay. 

Soil consists of an organic and of an inorganic or mineral part, the for- 
mer derived from the decay of plant-life for many ages, together with the 
dung and remains of animals, and the latter arising from the weathering 
of the rocks. 

The organic matter varies in different soils, being most deficient in 
sandy soils and poor clays, and even in very fertile lands occurring only 
in small quantities. In the famous black soil of Russia, which is found in 
the provinces of the Ural mountains, and in those that border them, it 
varies from 5 to 12 per cents In some of our own prairie soils the amount is 
nearly as high. In leaf mold it occurs considerably higher, and in peat 
more than 50 per cent., very often. From its dark color it is a good ab- 
sorbent of heat, its own specific heat being much above that of the soil 
generally. It is hygroscopic and greatly increases the water-holding 
power of sandy soils; besides, it has the power of absorbing and retaining 
ammoniacal salts. By its decomposition it forms a source of carbonic acid, 
which is readily absorbed by plant-life. The mechanical condition of a 
soil is much improved by its presence when in moderate quantities, but 
when present in excessive amount it acts injuriously by deoxidizing ferric 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 35 

salts, and in other ways. [Versuchs Stationen Organ, vol. xiv. pp. 248- 
300.] 

The inorganic- or mineral portions of the soil is, with the addition of 
alumina, composed of the same substances as make up the inorganic por- 
tion of plants, and which form their ashes when burnt. The mineral soil- 
constituents include the following substances: 

ca,Si0 2 . Potash, KoO. 

Alumina, A1 2 3 . Soda, Na 2 Q. 

Lime carbonate, CaCo,. Magnesia, MgO. 

Ferric oxide, Fe 2 3 . Chlorine, CI. 

Phosphoric acid. r_.0.-,. Sulphuric acid, S0 3 

(Phosphoric anhydride.) (Sulphuric anhydride.) 

These exist in very different proportions in different soils. The first 
three, sand, clay and lime, represent more than 90 per cent, of the sub- 
stance of most soils, and as one or the other predominates the soil is said 
to be sandy, clayey, or calcareous. The most active constituents of the 
soil, phosphoric acid, and the two alkalies, potash ami soda, occur in very 
small quantities, as do the other and less important constituents, mag- 
nesia; chlorine, and sulphuric acid. 

Silica exists in different proportions in v tils, mostly in an insol- 

uble state, and that, most largely, in the poorest sandy soil-;; fertile soils 
cor.' ally a very small quantity of it in a soluble form. Sandy 

soils contain from 70 to 00 per cent, of silica; even stiff clay soils from 60 
to 70 per cent.; and calcareous or lime soils and maris from 20 to 30 per 
cent. 

Its value, as a source of plant food, consists in being in the form of solu- 
ble silicates. In its insoluble state, like quartz sand, its action is nearly 
mechanical, making the soil lighter for cultivation. Those soils, derived 
from rocks of which feldspar is one of the constituents, will contain some 
silica in a. soluble form, whilst those derived from quartzose rocks will 
contain it in the insoluble state. The hyd rated silica, in the analyses, 
represents that which is gradually available for plant food. 

Alumina, or clay, is a silicate rjf aluminium, and it is derived from the 
disintegration of feldspathic rocks and other similar silicates; if absolutely 
pure it would furnish nothing for plant food; as, however, this is seldom 
the case, it furnishes a supply of potash frequently in considerable quan- 
tities, ("'lay has the important property of absorbing and retaining phos- 
phoric acid, ammonia, potash; lime, and other substances necessary for 
plant food. Clay soils contain on an average from 6 to 10 per cent, of 
alumina. In sandy soils it varies from 1 to -1 per cent., and in marls, cal- 
careous soils, and vegetable molds from 1 to 6 per cent. 

The presence of alumina in the soil is purely mechanical, as it is never 
found in the mineral portions of plants, and the larger the precentage of 
it present the more difficult the soil becomes to cultivate, offering a great- 
er or less resistance to the implements of tillage. 

The lime or calcareous matter generally occurring in the state of carbon- 
ate varies in soils from about 90 per cent, and under in limestones and 



36 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

marls, to mere traces in some other soils. Clays and loams generally eon- 
tain from 1 to 3 per cent, of the carbonate. Less than one per cent, may 
be regarded as a defective quantity. In the lighest sandy soils the per- 
centage of lime should not fall below .100, in clay loams not below .250, 
and in heavy clay soils not below .500. Where a soil is deficient in lime, 
the little there is of it is present in combination with the organic acids, 
and is more abundant on the surface than in the subsoil. It preserves 
the particles of clay in a separate coagulated condition, and thus allows 
them to exercise their absorbent powers on various salts, which other- 
wise would escape their action. It also promotes the decomposition of 
vegetable matter and the formation of nitrates in the soil. 

Most green crops are often subject to disease when grown on soils defi- 
cient in lime, even when they have been well manured. Up to a certain 
stage, the cereal or other crops appear to thrive well, but as the season 
advances they sustain a check and yield a poor harvest. This is espec- 
ially the case in poor sandy soils, and a good dose of lime or marl, followed 
by barnyard manure or guano, has a most beneficial effect. By this 
means the valuable portion of the manure or guano, the ammonia, pot- 
ash, and phosphoric acid, are retained in the land, whilst the others com- 
bine with the lime and are gradually washed out. 

Ferric oxide is found in all soils, and causes the reddish color so very 
common in a great many of them. To its presence is chiefly due the re- 
tention of the phosphoric acid, an insoluble basic phosphate of iron being 
produced. On its state of oxidation depends its favorable influence on 
the soil, that of ferric, sesqui or peroxide, better known as the red rust 
of iron, being the most suitable. In its less perfectly oxidized forms, 
which are, however, soluble in organic acids that exist very often in the 
subsoil, it becomes peroxidized on exposure to the air. Its action is both 
physical and chemical. The preference of farmers for " red land " arises 
from their experience of its beneficial action in the soil. 

From 1.5 to 4 per cent, of ferric oxide is ordinarily found in soils but 
slightly tinted. Ordinary ferruginous loams vary from 3.5 to 7 per cent.; 
highly colored "red lands " have from 7 to 12 per cent., and occasionally 
20 per cent, and more. The efficiency of the ferric oxide depends upon 
its mechanical condition; when incrusting the grains of sand or occurring 
as nodules, whilst the chemical analysis may show a large percentage of it 
present, it exerts little or no influence upon the soil, but when in a state 
of fine division these advantages are realized. 

Soils containing a large percentage of ferric oxide have generally a low 
percentage of organic matter, but, notwithstanding, are, as a rule, very fer- 
tile. In clay lands, especially, its presence is very beneficial as tending to 
make them easier for tillage ; its color tends to the absorption of heat and 
of oxygen. Such soils, however, suffer from floods or bad drainage, the 
ferric oxide becoming reduced under such circumstances to the ferrous 
state. 

Phosphoric acid m contained in all good soils, but in very small quantities 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 87 

when compared with the other principal ingredients, and exists in com- 
bination with lime, iron, and alumina, phosphate of lime being its most 
common form. In general, even in the most fertile soils, it. is found in 
very minute quantities, on an average less than one-iialfper cent.; in clay 
lands this may rise to 1 per cent. Its value in fertilizers depends on its 
state of combination, whether it is soluble and immediately available for 
plant food as the superphosphates, or slowly soluble like the lime phos- 
phates,forming a reserve store of food for the future. It occurs in all soils 
that have been formed from such rocks as the granites, gneisses, lime 
stones, and dolomites, which contain it without exception; volcanic soils 
possess it in large quantities, whilst alluvial soils and those lands that are 
periodically swept by floods, are much poorer. Soils containing less than 
.05 per cent, of it will be sterile and unfertile, as a general rule, unless 
accompanied by a large amount of lime. 

Potash. — All soils suitable for cultivation contain potash in an available 
form, arising from the disintegration of feldspathic and other rocks. In 
the majority of cases the natural supply of the soil is sufficient to furnish 
to the plants the potash of which they are in need; a soil containing .125 
per cent, should furnish potash enough for a century, without its being 
necessary to add to the manures used on such soils any salt of potash. 
Besides this available potash, the soil often contains very considerable 
quantities of this element which the acids do not attack, and which form 
the reserve for the future supply of the plants. 

The quantity of potash varies in the different soils from the merest 
traces up to 1 and 2 per cent. Sandy and peaty soils and marls are gen- 
erally deficient in this alkali, whilst soils rich in alumina are, with sonic 
exceptions, also rich in potash. It exists in the soil in combination with 
silica, forming a silicate which is somewhat soluble in water. Heavy clay 
soils and clayey loams, vary from .8 to .5 per cent. ; lighter loams, from .45 
to .30 per cent.; sandy loams, below .3 per cent., and sandy soils of great 
depth may contain less than .1 per cent v consistently with fertility } de- 
pending on the amounts of lime and phosphoric acid with which it is as- 
sociated. A high percentage of potash in a soil seems capable of making 
up for a low percentage of lime_, and, conversely, a soil very rich in lime 
and phosphoric acid may be very fertile notwithstanding a low percent- 
age of potash. The average annual consumption of potash for raising- 
crops is 45 pounds per acre, or about .002 per cent. 

Soda. — This is a less important constituent in soil than ])otash, and unless 
near the sea coast is present in even smaller quantities. Under the form 
of common salt, however, its presence is a cause of sterility in the soil 
when it exceeds .10 per cent, in quantity. 

Magnesia is found in all fertile soils^ in different proportions, often 
amounting to a mere trace. In the majority of cases the percentage !6f 
magnesia is greater than that of the lime, but it does not seem capable of 
performing, to any appreciable extent the general function of lime in soil 
improvement. 



38 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Sulphuric acid and chlorine occur very sparingly in most soils. From .02 
to .04 per cent, of the former seems to be adequate to most soils. 

There does not exist any affinity between the quantities of lime and 
magnesia contained in soils and those of potash and of phosphoric acid. 

Nitrogen and Nitrates. — The natural sources of nitrogen in crops are the 
nitrates and ammonia salts, which are seldom present in large quantities, 
and should be used on or generated in the soil as rapidly as crops require 
them. The process of nitrification, whereby inert or unassimilable nitro- 
gen becomes converted into nitric acid, is thus of great importance to 
agriculturists. This is due to a minute bactarium present in all soils, 
whereby the humus and ammonia are oxidized and the nitrogen con- 
verted into nitric acid. This process does not take place unless the soil 
is moist and has free access of air, and some base, generally lime, is pres- 
ent, with which the nitric acid can combine. Nitrification is thus most 
active in summer, and ceases, apparently, in winter. 

In carrying on these investigations by the National Department of Ag- 
riculture, samples of thirty different soils, taken from widely separated 
areas of the United States, were completely analyzed by the chemist, and 
three of these sample- were of prairie soils from Dakota. The result of 
the analysis of the samples from Dakota is given in full below: 

ANALYSIS OF THREE SAMPLES OP AIR-DRIED DAKOTA SOILS. 
(By Edgar Richards. Chemist U. S. Department of Agriculture ) 

Samples. 

Component parts. 

Xo. 1. : No. 2. No. 3. 

Percentage of: 

Hygroscopic moisture 6.275 7.800 7.700 

Insoluble silica V i 53.415 30.555 

Hydrated silica [\ 00,335 13.020 21.215 

Soluble silica J .400 .460 .485 

Sesquioxide of iron Fe 2 3 4.006; 4.608 < 3.204 

Aluminia. AU0 3 7.052 0.030 7.382 

Phosphoric acid, P,,0 5 112 .112 .224 

Lime, CaO " 848 ! .852 3.808 

Magnesia, MgO .808 1.535 2.007 

Potash, K,0.. .720 .725 .745 

Soda, NaoO ' .045 .040 1.550 

Sulphuric acid, SO, .120 .077 .163 

Chlorine, CI .027 .053 .078 

Carbonic acid, CO. 220 .104 2.530 

Volatile and organic matter 8.005 6.171 10.175 

Total ■ 100.013 100.102 100.971 

Nitrogen, N I .324 .170 .414 

The analysis leads to the following conclusions : 

First . The remarkable adaptability of Dakota soils to readily imbibe and 
retain moisture. Of all the samples analyzed by the chemist only one 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 39 

exceeded in the percentage of hygroscopic moisture the lowest amount 
obtained from eitherjjf the Dakota soils. 

Second. That, as regards silica in its soluble state, (and in this way only 
is it valuable as a source of plant food), the Dakota soils rank third on the 
list of the thirty samples analyzed, and are, therefore, particularly well 
adapted to the raising of cereal crops, which possess in a marked degree 
the capacity for feeding~on silicates. And the same is true of the per- 
centage shown of hydrated silica, which represents that which is grad- 
ually available for plant food. 

Third. It contains the average of 4 per cent, of ferric oxide, valuable, 
because to its presence is chief!}' due the retention of phosphoric acid, and 
because it tends to make clay lands easier of tillage. 

Fourth. In the percentage of alumina or clay in the soil, the samples 
from Dakota, containing an average of over 8 per cent., are again third on 
the list. Its presence is valuable as furnishing a supply of potash and be- 
cause it has the important property of absorbing and retaining phosphoric 
aoid, ammonia, potash, lime, and other substances necessary for plant food. 
The chemist declares the light clay soil, containing from G to 10 per cent, 
of alumina, the best for wheat. 

Fifth. It shows an abundant supply of phosphoric acid which the 
chemist says, " in general, even in the most fertile soils, is found in very 
minute quantities." The percentage of phosphoric acid found in sample 
No. 3, is exceeded in but one of all the soils analyzed. 

Sixth. The chemist lays down the rule that the percentage of lime in 
clay loams should not fall below .250 and in heavy clay soils not below .500. 
The analysis of the samples from Dakota, shows nearly double the last 
amount in all three instances, and in the case of sample No. 3 it ranks first 
on the entire list as regards the percentage of lime. 

Seventh. It will be observed that the percentage of potash varies only 
slightly in the Dakota samples and is ample for all time- to come. The 
chemist remarks that a soil containing .125 per cent, should furnish potash 
for a century, and that high per cent, of potash makes up for a low per- 
centage of lime. The Dakota samples show a percentage of potash of 

.720-, .725-. and .745. respectively. 
Eighth. The analysis shows that the amount of nitrogen in the Dakota 

soil is very large, and agrees closely in the three samples and that it 
is rich enough in this necessary soil constituent for the continued raising 
of abundant crops. Two of the samples of prairie soils rank in this re- 
spect, third on the list analyzed. • 

Ninth. The prairie soils contain a percentage of humus, or organic 

matter, greater than twenty-live out of the thirty samples analyzed. The 
smallest percentage of humus obtained from an analysis of the three 
samples w r as, 6.171 and the greatest 10.175, whilst the famous black soil of 
the Ural mountains in Russia, contains but five to twelve per cent. In 
the most fertile of soils of this country, vegetable humus occurs only in 
small quantities. It is hygroscopic, i. e. greatly increases the water hold- 



40 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

ing^ power of soils arid enables them to withstand prolonged drought, be- 
sides furnishing^ valuable food supply for the growing plants. 

To sum. up, we rind that the Territory is covered with a rich dark drift 
or alluvial loam, from, one to four feet deep, underlayed with a clay sub- 
soil having the: properties of holding moisture to a wonderful degree, 
which is given out as needed by the growing crops; that it contains an in- 
exhaustible supply of the most important soil constituents, as soluble 
silica, lime, potash, soda, phosphoric acid, nitrogen and vegetable humus, 
and will produce for a life time abundant crops under favorable climatic 
conditions, and that the soil of Dakota varies but little in the different 
localities. It would seem that it contains the proper percentage of plant 
constituents to give it the peculiar chemical composition requisite for 
producing cereals the richest in albuminoids and the life sustaining pro- 
perties, for, by Government analysis, it has also been determined that Da- 
kota wheat and corn take the first rank as regards the percentage of 
albuminoids and nitrogen of any grown in the United States. 

It would further appear that Dakota soil is a mixture of sand and clay 
in the proper proportions to bring about the ready absorption of the 
rainfall, and to cause-the soil to be easily pulverized. The clay subsoil, 
also of the drift formation, is of inexhaustible depth and quite as fertile 
as the top soil". Through the effect of deep winter freezing and the rising 
of the moisture in the spring, the rich natural fertilizers of the subsoil are 
constantly being mixed with the top-soil, replacing those taken by the 
crops and thus assuring the farmers of Dakota in the possession of a soil, 
which is as nearly inexhaustible as any on the face of the globe. The 
fertility of the sub-soil has been practically demonstrated by growing on 
it alone, the most luxuriant vegetable growth. 

In addition to the Government analysis referred to, a section of Dakota, 
soil was some time ago subjected to a chemical analysis by Dr. A. P. 
ATtken, of Edinburgh, Scotland, anabyst to the Grain Exchange of that 
city, who pronounced it the most interesting soil he had ever investigated. 
He! particularly dwells upon the texture being such, as to permit of the 
rapid using of moisture from beneath, and declares that he demonstrated 
it by experiment, to be capable of raising water eighteen inches one day, 
"thus showing" as he says, "its suitability to withstand drought." With 
regard to. its fertility, he continues, "the amount of salts, soluble in 
water 4 is naturally greatest in the upper layer of the section submitted to 
him, but that the very slight diminution in the quantity of soluble salts 
in the lowest layer from that contained in the middle layer, indicates that 
even at great depth the soil may be comparitively well supplied with salts, 
soluble in wafer, and immedietely available for the use of crops." And 
also, as an Important feature of the soil, the proportion of phosphoric 
acid, potash and lime actually increases with the depth, so that, as the 
superficial layer becomes exhausted, its fertaility will be replenished by 
stores of nourishment from beneath. The editor of the United Slates Med- 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 41 

ical Investigator of Chicago, himself a scientist wJio has given jn.ncli.time 
and thought to the study of the soils, writes as follows .of. Dakota: 

"The lands east of the Mississippi have had their saline ingredients 
washed ont and carried away to the ocean or under ground, jand. are now 
being tapped at Saginaw and other salt works. Dakota.retains her valua- 
ble saline soil ingredients, chiefly, I judge, on account of the deep loam, 
numerous irregular strata of clay, and the level character Df the surface. 
Some of it is undoubtedly being carried off by the many rivers, and more 
will be when cultivation becomes general. There is a current theory 
that the saline ingredients are chiefly due to the periodical prairie fires 
that have swept over the land, depositing an ash which, being absorbed, 
•gives to the water its brackish character. That is true to a certain extent, 
yet I am of the opinion that the fires, like the washings of the water, les- 
sen rather than increase the amount of these peculiar soda soil ingredi- 
ents. The saline character is rather duej as we have intimated, to the 
sediment deposited from decomposed inorganic material in the ages lang 
syne. 

'•The soil is evidently a glacial drift deposit, and. like portions of Switzer- 
land, is filled with vegetable matter many feet deep. There are no dis- 
tinct layers of either clay, sand or gravel. What the rock deposit beneath 
is, will be interesting to find out. 

"The soil will prove inexhaustible, and when the surface is unproductive 
deep sub-soil plowing will rejuvenate it by bringing' to the surface valua- 
ble saline soil. The rolling land will therefore prove as valuable as the 
lower levels, while the low swales can be rendered productive by drain- 
ing or boring for several feet down . The fact thatpockets df sand, gravel, 
clay and alluvial deposit are mixed, and that stumps of trees are found 
thirty feet below the surface, shows that the soil is something wonderful. 
It will interest students of geology, and those interested in continent 
formation, to visit this wonderful country. 

"When we come to study the soil water of Dakota; we shall see that this 
soil composition is undoubtedly very favorable to absorption and reten- 
tion of moisture. Sulphuric acid, it is well known to alchemists, absorbs 
moisture rapidly from the air. An open vial partially filled with sul- 
phuric acid will soon absorb enough water from the air to overflow the 
vial. Salt also absorbs moisture from the air. With these facts before 
him, the agricultural chemist would not be surprised that the soil, rich in 
the sulphates and containing salts,would absorb and retain such moisture. 

"The fact that many of the lakes are in the higher regions would seem to 
indicate that the moisture is largely absorbed from the atmosphere. 
Soils which attract aerial moisture are found to contain sand, finely di- 
vided clay, carbonate of lime, and organic matter, all so lightly bound to- 
gether as to permit of the perfect access of air to a considerable depth. 
(Griffith's Chemistry of the Four Seasons.) Another thing which may 



42 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

partially account for the moisture is the clouds hang low over a treeless, 
level country, which greatly favors precipitation. 

X * XX X X 

"The lightness and porosity of the freshly upturned soil ofDakotaisa 
marvel to one who would expect sogginess from the luxuriant growth of 
grass. This lightness suggests sand and shallowness, but we see that it is 
a salient feature of rich land. Nature has pursued a conservative course 
toward Dakota, enabling her to hoard her wealth, and her citizens 
should bear this ever in mind, so as to increase the treasury of this won- 
derful country. It will be years yet before this land will need enriching. 
There is no region that I know of with so generally rich a soil." 

The adaptability of the soil to readily absorb moisture is observed when 
one considers the splendid condition of our prairie roads, which are al- 
ways passa'ble even after the heaviest of rain storms. They are never 
muddy and heavy, as results during the long rainy season of the Eastern 
states. 

Nearly the entire surface of the Territory consists of arable lands, with 
an easily tilled, rich, and productive soil, such as has been described. 
No clearing of trees or removing of stumps is necessary. The land lies 
open, in broad, fertile expanses awaiting the plow and the work of culti- 
vation. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 43 



CLIMATE OF DAKOTA. 



Scarcely anything connected with Dakota is the subject of greater mis- 
conception than its climate. When one talks of a removal to Minnesota, 
Michigan, Wisconsin or Iowa, the climate of those prosperous and old 
settled states is not thought to offer an insurmountable objection; but the 
very moment Dakota is mentioned, whose boundaries are practically within 
the same latitudes as the states named,, we are told of long dreaiy win- 
ters, terrible blizzards, and disastrous cyclones. It is difficult to under- 
stand in what manner the climate of the Territory.came to be so misrepre- 
sented to our Eastern neighbors; certainly there never existed greater 
ignorance than is sometimes displayed, by the remarks of people and the 
press of the East, on the weather of Dakota. However. each»year peo- 
ple are hearing more and more about the Territory; they are consulting 
the maps and weather reports, and the truth is gradually becoming 
known. They see that Dakota is in the same latitude as many of the 
most prosperous and well-to-do states of the Union; that man;, of her 
towns are no father north than the villages of Vermont, New Hampshire, 
northern Iowa and New York, and that every one of her cities compares 
favorably, in location, with those in the states of ' Minnesota, Wisconsin 
and Michigan. Dakota contains millions of acres of land in identically the 
same latitude as a portion of the great and nourishing state of Iowa, which 
state forms apart of the eastern boundary of the Territory, and millions of 
acres in a more southern latitude than any within the state of Minnesota. 
Even if latitude were the only cause to determine the character of climate. 
Dakota is as favorably located as many of the states of the Union. 
But scientific investigation lias demonstrated the fact that latitude 
is not the one factor that regulates the severity of the winter months. 
A number of cities located in the same latitude have a difference in their 
mean temperature for January, of from r2°" to 75° , all brought about by 
the tempering influences of streams of equatorial warmth, which are dis- 
tributed through the ocean currents. Great Britain would scarcely be 
habitable were it not for her proximity to these warm ocean currents. 
The isothermal line (that is an imaginary line passing through points 
having the same mean annual temperature), of.40°-50° mean annual tem- 
perature, passes through the wheat countries of Russia, Austria and 
France, and. in the United States, runs westward through Harrisburg, 



44 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Cleveland and. Chicago, turns northward to St. Paul, and passes westward 
north of the- northern boundary line of Dakota and Montana. The sudden 
trend, of the. isothermal line northward following the course of the Mis- 
souri river, marks its meeting with the warm Japan currents known as 
"Chinook winds/' which, flow from the tropical waters of the Indian 
ocean, along the costs of Asia and Japan, through the Pacific ocean, and 
are finally distributed over the territories of Washington, Montana, and 
Dakota, sensibly tempering the climate of the entire Northwest. 

The atmosphere is dry and devoid of any humidity during the winter 
months, and therefore ft never penetrates and chills as does the damp at- 
mosphere of the Atlantic states. It is a fact borne out by the assertions 
of all the residents of the Territory, hailing, as they do, from all sections of 
the United States, that the winters of Dakota are no more severe and 
cause less suffering and inconvenience, than the winters of the New Eng- 
land or Western states. The thermometer occasionally registers a very 
low temperature, and probably this is the cause of so much inexcusable mis- 
conception in regard to our climate ; but the reader is assured that a tem- 
perature of 40° below zero, an exceptionally cold day of the winter, has 
no more terrors for a Dakotaian, than has the " norther " of Texas or the 
daily snow storms, of New England for the residents of those localities. 

The winters are cold, it is true, but the air is dry, pure and full of in- 
vigo ration,; and w r ith every respiration one feels that he is drinking from 
the mythical spring of perpetual youth. Less snow falls in Dakota during 
the winter than in the states east and south of us. As a general rule there 
is scarcety enough snow to make good sleighing. The railroads of the 
Territory are very much less obstructed from snow than in any other lo- 
cality of the same latitude. Occasionally, Dakota is visited with unusually 
severe weather, accompanied by a greater amount of snowfall, as was true 
during the winter of 1880-7 ; but such extreme visitations are the rare oc- 
currences that happen even to the most favored sections of the globe. 
The most disagreeable and uncomfortable days of the winter are not those 
indicated by the lowest temperature, as our Eastern friends would imagine. 
It is only when the wind blows strong from the northwest, full of fine par- 
ticles of snow, that the Dakotaian thinks of housing himself because of 
the inclemency of the weather. These storms, popularly known as bliz- 
zards, are quite severe, but fortunately are rare, and are always followed 
by days brighter and more sunshiny if possible, than those of the stand- 
ard for this season of the year. The records of the National Weather 
Bureau prove the assertion that, in the winter months, Dakota enjoys 
more sunny days, (days when persons and teams are comfortable out of 
doors), than any of the states of the East. 

The autumn is a delfghtful season, and is generally prolonged far into 
December; set cold weather rarely visiting us till after the holidays. The 
sudden breaking up erf the winters is a very noticeable feature of Dakota 
weather. There fs none of that intermittent warfare between Boreas and 
the sun, resulting in a prolonged visitation of rain and wind, alternate 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 45 

freezing and thawing, so common in the Eastern states, and dreaded al- 
ways as the most disagreeable season of the year. 

The winter breaks in March, usually, and is followed immediately by 
the warm, sunny days of summer. Seeding and farm operations generally 
begin in the latter part of March, or early in April, and are seldom inter- 
rupted by the return of frost or snow: Occasionally, in the southern por- 
tion of the Territory, seeding is begun as early as February, and the fall 
plowing continued as late as December. There is little question but that 
the cultivation of the soil, the planting of trees, and the improvements of 
civilization, have already had a marked effect on the climate of Dakota. 
Some of the oldest settlers insist that, even within their time, these 
changes have been very decided, and that seeding is now begun a month 
earlier than formerly. 

The summer time is characterized by warm days and cool nights. Da- 
kota has established her claim to many advantages when the question of 
a home is being considered, and none is more universally admitted than 
her beautiful evenings and cool, pleasant nights. The day may have been 
a little too warm to be comfortable ; the winds high and stormy, but at 
night all is calm and peaceful, and the tired laborer or wear}' invalid 
never fails of finding rest in the delightful hours of the cool, slumber- 
giving night season. In reality the pure, exhilarating, healthful climate 
of Dakota is one of the enchantments by means of which she holds irre- 
sistibly within her grasp, those who have enjoyed a residence within her 
boundaries, be it never so short. The visitor, who has once drunk deep 
draughts of this prairie oxygen, is under the charmer's spell, and can 
never again content himself to live without the Territory. The story of 
the prodigal's return was never more truthfully represented than by those 
of our people who, having earned a competency, attempt to become 
reconciled to the old home in the East. The effort invariably ends in 
miserable failure and a return to the delightful climate of Dakota. This 
fact alone ought to be a sufficient argument to remove any doubts the 
reader may entertain in regard to our weather. 

Of cyclones and like disastrous storms, the people of Dakota have no 
fear. The investigations of the United States Signal Service declare us to 
be without the cyclone belt. Each year's record tells of death -dealing 
cyclones, of terrible floods, of forest tires, of drought and of earthquakes 
in neighboring states, and yet no one thinks of maligning those sections 
of the Union by oft repeated exaggerations of their misfortunes. But 
let Dakota be visited by the least of these disasters and there would fol- 
low such an outpouring of misrepresentation, topped with glaring head- 
lines, as would move the very world for sympathy. When the truth in 
regard to Dakota's climate shall become widely known, she will need no 
louder songs sung in her praise than will then be uttered by her present 
ignorant detractors. Intelligently investigated and understood, the 
healthfullness of the climate offers the strongest and weightiest of all in- 
ducements for settlement in our midst. 



46 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



TABLES OF WEATHER REPORTS. 



Through the kind co-operation of the Chief Signal Officer, United States 
Army, nine stations of the United States Signal Service furnish each month 
to the Commissioner of Immigration, Dakota, a summary of their observa- 
tions. These stations are located as follows: 



Locality. Latitude. Longitude. 



Missouri Vallev : ' " ' ." 

Yankton 42 45 97 3 

Huron 44 21 98 90 

Fort Sully 44 30 101 44 

Extreme Northwest: 

Moorhead 46 51 96 50 

St. Vincent 41) 00 97 00 

FortTotten 47 57 98 57 

Bismarck 46 48 103 5s 

FortBuford 48 30 100 38 

Northern Slope: 

Deadwood 44 28 103 48 

In addition to the data obtained from these regular reports this office 
has had the advantage, in preparing the weather statistics published in this 
volume, of consulting the most complete and elaborate set of Dakota 
weather records ever before compiled, covering, as they do, some thirty 
widely separated stations in the Territory and extending over a period, in 
some instances, of fifteen years. These valuable weather records were 
transcribed expressly for this work, under the direction of General Greely, 
Chief Signal Officer, Washington, from the original reports, filed in the 
War Department, of the post surgeons, of all the Government posts estab- 
lished in Dakota since 1872; the reports of the various signal stations main- 
tained from time to time in the Territory, and the reports of several vol- 
untary ol >servers. 

From these official and reliable reports the following weather tables 
have been prepared with much labor and care. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



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RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



From the above table it will be seen that January is the coldest month 
in the year in Dakota, and July the warmest. The weather is six degrees 
warmer in February than January and nearly three degrees warmer m 
December than in January or February. The average temperature of 
of the three winter months in Dakota, covering a long period of years, is 
11.8°. For the spring months the average temperature is 41.1° — or about 
the mean annual temperature of the Territory. In March the weather is 
•nearly 12 degrees warmer than the preceding month, April 18 degrees 
warmer than March, and May 14 degrees warmer than April. The average 
temperature during the summer time is 69.1°. In June the weather grows 
warmer by 9 degrees, and in July the maximum temperature of the season 
is reached, viz. : 71.8°. During August the thermometer begins to fall, and 
the average temperature of this month is 2 degrees and a fraction below 
that of July. The average temperature during the fall is 3 degrees higher 
than during the three months of spring, viz.: 44.1°. In September the 
thermometer averages 10.8° lower than in August, October 13.1° below 
September, and November 18° lower than October. 

The following table, wherein the average state of the weather in Dakota, 
based on observations covering a period of fifteen years, is compared with 
the monthly and annual mean temperature of one of the New England 
and one of the Western states, shows that in no month of the year does 
the weather average so cold in Dakota as in either Minnesota or New 
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42.5 


56.7 


65.8 


71.8 


69.6 


58.8 


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15.6 


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RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



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RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



51 






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52 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



Mean temperature 
for the month at 
each locality 


o 

-1.0 

3.8 
3.9 
9.3 
3.6 

4.5 
20.9 
12.1 

5.5 
15.9 
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17.8 
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: t-h 01 i-i : cm : 


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zero. 


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° : d : co — 5 cm cm d r~ •" cm d t>5 d d 

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co-#cc 00 : : 
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1875 ' 1876 1877 1878 , .1879 1880 

1 


: cm : :ox^ic 


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: co : cm cm 




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Eargo (Moorhead) 

Mvan temp. each year for Territory 1 
by months; and mean monthly V 
temp, covering period of years .. ) 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



. :c t-. i- .- — x — c 1 x -r. ■— .r. to :t:.:nt 3 co iO lo 



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51 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 










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X 1 * 

x 1 n 


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x o : ,-' : : ~ -J ,-' ^ : ; ^J : y -/ — ' : : : x .t x -i J '• '• d • • 1 r-5 


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r^ ! -I" 1 i ■! i ; ! 1 i i ■ i« 

g o ::::::::::::: -" 






i • IrH 

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§ 2 



RESOURCES OF DAK< )TA. oo 

The following interesting facts are gathered from the foregoing records: 
January and February', 1875, were the coldest months experienced in the 
Territory during a period of fifteen years. The years 1S78 and 1880 were 
remarkable*for an average temperature in January but a few degrees be- 
low the usual weather of the month of March. In 1876 we had the coldest 
March in fifteen years, and 1878 the warmest. December, 1879, was the 
co-ldest" December covering the same period, and 1877 the warmest. In 
1875 we had the severest weather for November, 1878 the mildest. 

The month of October in Dakota is noted for the wonderful evenness of 
its temperature, there having been a variation since 1872 of but eight de- 
grees above and four degrees and a fraction below the average mean for 

this month. 

The average temperature of the weather in Dakota for the six months 
beginning with October of one year and ending with March of the next, 
for the fourteen seasons since 1872, has been as follows : 



.25.5° 

.22.0 
.15.0 
.10.5 
.20.8 
.32.0 
.23.9 

•>:>, 7 



1880=1 18-0° 

1881-2 26.8 

1882-3 21.1 

1883-4 19.0 

1884-5 20.6 

1885-6 24.0 

1.886-7 1_ 

21.8 



.9 



1872-:; 

1873-4 

1874-5 

1875-6 

1876-7 

1877-8 

1878-9 

1879-80 - 

Mean average for fifteen years 

The winters of 1874-5 and 1886-7 were the coldest, and the winter of 
1877-8 the mildest during the period covered by these observations. 

TABLE SHOWING DEPTH OF SNOWFALL IX INCHES, IN DAKOTA, 

During the winter months of 1883-7, as compared with some of the states. 

(Compiled from the records of the United States Signal Service.) 



States 




Dakota. 
New Yorl 
Connecticut 

Michigan 

Massachusetts 

Maine 

New Hampshire 
Vermont 



Notwithstanding the fact that the winter of 1886-7 was one of the coldest 
in the history of the Territory, and was noted for the unusual number of 
its snow storms, yet the Government records show that less snow fell in 
Dakota during that season than in many of the states of the East, the snow- 
fall in some of the states being nearly double that of Dakota. 



p6 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Amid the states of the Union none takes higher rank in wealth and com- 
mercial importance than New York, Connecticut, Michigan and Massa- 
chusetts, notwithstanding the occurrence in each, during* the winter 
months, of occasional heavy snow storms. Dakota, with the richest agri- 
cultural lands in the world, and undeveloped mineral and manufactur- 
ing resources of the greatest magnitude, with a more favorable climate 
than these wealthy and prosperous commonwealths, will continue in the 
line of rapid growth and develornnent, such as has marked the beginning 
of her history, until she has reached her rightful position of the firstState 
in importance in the Northwest. 

UNMELTED SNOW. 

Table showing depth of unmelted snow on the ground in Dakota at the end of the 

Month of March, 1887, as compared with s >me of the states. 

(Compiled from re ordsof the United States Signal Service.) 



Dakota 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Wisconsin. 



Inches. 

1.0 
2.0 
3.3 
3.3 



|j Michigan j 4.8 

1 1 Pennsylvania ..' 
| ! Massachusetts . 
llMaine 




i Inches. 

jNewYork.......:.! 12~9 

! New Hampshire! 17.0 

j Connecticut 26.0 

| Vermont I 35.2 



The spring season opens early and without that lingering hesitancy 
which causes so much misery and discomfort in other places. In proof of 
this one has only to compare the amount of snow remaining on the ground 
in Dakota at the end of March, after the severe winter of 1886-7, (the second 
coldest season in fifteen years), with other localties, as shown by the pre- 
ceding table. 

CLEAR, FAIR AND CLOUDY DAYS IN DAKOTA. 
Table showing the number of clear, fair and cloudy days in Dakota during each month 
of the year 1886, as shown by observations at the U S. Signal Service 
Stations in the Territory. 



January. 



o 



February 



Yankton.... 
Deadwood. 

Huron 

Ft. Sully.... 
Bismarck... 
Ft Buford. 
Ft Tottcn.. 



17 
211 
141 
Averagesi j 9|16.5i 



No No. j No. | 
15 8, 
14 8 
18! 5 



14 



1 



5 

J 
5.51 



fe | a 

No. No7 
12. 4 
11! 4 



17 

M 

16 
16 

14|_ 

7.4114.1] 



6.5, 



March. 



"2 o 

8 



No 



No. 
10 
14 
16 



April. 



i \ 



May. 



No. 

12 

8 

11 



No. 
10 



No. 
18 
15 
12 



7.5,18.2 10.3 ilO. 5111.3 1 

III I I 



No. 
8 
12 



N.».iNo. 

. 22| ] 

16 j I 

20 5 



181 
17! 
181 
9. 0118. 51 



June. 



No. 


No. 


12 


15 


18 


10 


15 


10 


12 


18 


7 


20 


4 


17 


10 


15 



2 
9 
3 

3/51 [11. 1115.03.9 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA . 

CLEAR, FAIR AND CLOUDY DAYS IN DAKOTA — Continued. 



Stations 



Yankton... 
Deadwood. 

Huron 

Ft. Sully.. . 
Bisnmrclc. 
Ft. Buford 
Ft. Totten. 



July. 


i 

a 
i & 

1 Q 


'3 



August. ^September. 



o I m 



No. 


No. 


! 12 


17 


17 


9 


13 


1ft 


| 14 


Ifi 




24 


[l 14 


16 



! O 
I No 



October. 



No\ 


ember.! 
1 


December. 






^ 






„■ 


j* 




73 1 


(_; 




'O 


m 


Fh 




o3 






<u 


3 


3 


OI 




' c 












Q 


N 


U l 


I ° 


^ 


1 o 



IINo.lN 

I 10 171 4 

I 21 10 

! 10 18 3 



Averages' 12.5 16. 



8 

0| 

. 1 115 
II 



No. 


No. 


14 


10 


19 


9 


10 1 


15 


""Vil 


17 


9! 


18 


13 


12 



No 1 No.|No.iNohNo.,Ni>. Nol No. No. No 
>!! U 18 6 9 13 9 
t 12 12 6 91 20 2 
[\\ 10 12 8| 10| 18 3 



11! 4 

14 8 

11 11 



10 



.8 114.5 10.5,6.0,110.5 13.6 5.9; 



9| 181 4 

61 18! 7 

7j 20i 4 

8.3 17.8 4.9 

i i 



No country in the world can compare with Dakota in the way of clear, 
bright, sunshiny weather. Three hundred and two days of the year 1886 
(and during 1886 we had more disagreeable weather than for many years 
previous)? were classed by the observers as either fair or clear, leaving but 
sixty-three days, or an average of only five to each month, which could be 
called cloudy or stormy. These were distributed throughout the four 
seasons as follows: winter, 17 cloudy or stormy days; spring, 22; sum- 
mer, 8; fall, 16. 

COMPARATIVE TABLE. 

Table showing the number of clear, fair and cloudy days in Dakota during the year 

1886, in comparison with some of the states. 

(Compiled from the records of the U. S. Signal Office.) 



Total. 

No. 



Dakota 

Nebraska 

Rhode Island 

Kansas 

Minnesota 

Illinois 

Connecticut 

Wisconsin 

Iowa 

Pennsylvania , 

Massachusetts.... 

Indiana 

Maine 

Ohio 

Michigan 

New York 

New Hampshire. 



Cloudy 


Clear 


Fail- 


Days. 


Days. 


Days. 


No" ~ 


No. 


No. 


62.9 


126.7 


175.4 


67.0 


124.0 


174.0 


81.8 


122.2 


161 .0 


88.7 


185.0 


146.3 


97.2 


106.0 


161.8 


102.4 


115.4 


147.2 


108.3 


118.8 


148.4 


109.1 


96.8 


159.1 


118.0 


93.3 


153.7 


118.8 


106.2 


140.0 


128.0 


108.0 


134.0 


128.1 


94.5 


142.4 


129.5 


92.3 


148.2 


180.8 


90.4 


143.8 


135.8 


83.1 


146.6 


153.5 


76.1 


185.4 


163.6 


79.2 


122.2 



505.0 



58 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 





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RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 59 

Beginning with January, in Dakota, the month of the year when tin 
moisture is precipitated, there is a slight increase of Snowfall in February, 
which is nearly doubled in quantity by the rain and snowfall of March. 
In April the average rainfall is 2.50 inches, or twice the depth of moisture 
falling in the preceding month. This is increased 30 per cent, in May, the 
average precipitation of the month being 3.20 inches, while in June, at 
just the time the rainfall is most needed to benefit the growingferops in 
this region of late harvests, the maximum precipitation during any single 
month of the year is reached, averaging 3.04 inches. During the last half 
of the year the amount of moisture precipitated each month lessens in 
about the same ratio as it increases during the first half. 

By seasons we have the following result: In the winter months the total 
precipitation averages 2.2o inches; in the spring, (3.96 inches; in the'sum- 
mer, 9.39 inches, and in the fall 3.77 inches. 



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RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



From the above table we find that the total rainfall in Dakota for the five 
months beginning with April and ending with August, for sixteen years 
from and including 1872, has been as follows: 



1872. 
1873. 
1874. 
1875. 
1876. 
1877. 



.14.69 inches. 

.13.20 

.12.63 

.13.89 

.13.27 

.14.74 



1878 17.72 

1879 15.85 



1880 16.21 inches. 

1881 13.78 

1882 15.47 

1883 14.21 

1884 15.97 

1885 15.90 

1886 12.57 

1887 15.01 



It is instructive to note the gradual but certain increase in the quantity 
of rainfall throughout the Territory — the undoubted result of the tilling of 
the soil, the planting of trees, the building of railroads, and other changes 
brought about by the settlement of the country. The average rainfall 
during the growing season in Dakota (April to August inclusive), for sixteen 
years, from 1872 to 1887, has been 14.70 inches. The rainfall covering this 
period of each year for the first five years from 1871 in every instance fell 
below the average of 14.70 inches, and for the eleven seasons since 1876 — 
the date when active settlement of the Territory really began — the quan- 
tity of rainfall has constantly exceeded this average, with but three ex- 
ceptions. 

Dividing this record of six months' rainfall into periods of eight years, 
we have the following result : 

The rainfall (five months of the year) from 1872 to 1879, inclusive, aver- 
aged 14.50 inches. 

The rainfall (five months of the year) from 1880 to 1887, inclusive, aver- 
aged 14.89 inches. 

The quantity of rainfall during the last eight years of the period ex- 
ceeded that of the first half by a yearly average of 0.39 of an inch. 

A study of the records of Dakota's weather verifies the assertion made 
by scientists that the breaking up of the prairies, the growing of forests 
and the settlement of a country not only modify its climate, but lead to 
a certain and constant increase in the annual rainfall. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 67 



HEALTHFULNESS OF THE CLIMATE. 



Dakota's climate, although the thermometer during tiie winter months 
sometimes registers considerable coldness, is dry, pure, healthful and in- 
vigorating, and possesses all the good qualities of the climate of Colorado, 
without the light, highly raritied air of a mountainous altitude, which is 
so dangerous to those who have long suffered from lung troubles. The 
climate, the year around, is especially favorable to pulmonary, bronchial 
and malarial diseases, and is a builder-up of physical and mental strength 
and not a detractor from it. as is true of the wet, damp and changeable 
weather of other localities, and the poisoned atmosphere of all densely 
populated cities. The invalid, harassed by the murky, heavy atmosphere 
of the East and sallow from the effects of his daily potations of quinine, 
experiences an immediate relief with the first deep, long breath of this 
prairie oxygen. Many settlers who came to Dakota as confirmed invalids 
now rejoice in the possession of renewed health, as' well as in the owner- 
ship of comfortable homes amid pleasant surroundings. 

The number of deaths in the Territory during the census year of 1885, 
was 2,511, or 6.01 to every 1,000 inhabitants, or 1 in'every 166 of the popula- 
tion. 

The following table of the death rate of different localities, compiled 
from the United States census report of 1880, is certainly a pretty strong 
argument in favor of Dakota as a health resort: 

TABLE OF MORTALITY STATISTICS. 





...lin 86 


Norway 

Denmark 

Sweden 

Great Britain .... 

Switzerland 

Holland 


1 in 56 




....lin 84 


1 in 46 




...1 in 82 


lin 50 




...lin 67 


1 in 46 




....lin 64 


lin 41 


All of the United States.. 


...lin 66 


lin 37 



Dakota, (Census of 1885) 1 in 166 



The death rate of Sioux Falls last year, which might be taken as a fair 
sample of other Dakota cities, was 4| to each 1,000 inhabitants; while the 
average death rate of the leading cities of the country in 1880, according 
to the census, was 20 to each 1,000. 



68 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

A well known scientific authority, Dr. T. C. Duncan, of Chicago, who 
visited Dakota for the purpose of making a thorough study of the climate, 
soil, water, etc., has embodied his views in pamphlet form, and among 
other things says: 

" Every country, territory and town has a medical side, and none is 
more interesting than Dakota. The location, soil, ingredients, water pe- 
culiarities and rare atmosphere, no doubt, account to a certain extent for its 
invigorating climate. Besides being rich in agricultural promise, it is des- 
tined to be a health resort. 

" The effects of the water upon the health brings me to look at the medi- 
cal side of the water question: 

"The person who drinks the well water of Dakota should not be troubled 
with biliousness, at least not until the soda is replaced by potash, which 
may take place after long cultivation. 

"Those who drink water from the Dakota river should not complain of 
kidney trouble. 

" The action of magnesia on the bowels is well known. None need buy 
purgative pills when alkaline water can be drank freely. The sick 
may take it with decided beneficial results. There are some noted min- 
eral waters, (i. e. Seidlitz in Germany, Epsom in England, etc.,) in which 
sulphate Of magnesia, (Epsom salt,) is the leading ingredient. Sulphate 
of soda, (Glauber's salt,) is a great remedy with many people in this coun- 
try and Germany. It relieves plethora and constipation. The fat people 
should visit Dakota and drink bitter well water. Many would, however, 
prefer the water sent to them. It is the anti-fat. The action of the river 
water upon the digestive organs will be beneficial. There is nothing in 
these waters that is deleterious to the health, unless used to excess. 

"Newcomers should use the alkaline water sparingly, or diarrhcea, 
loss of appetite, headache and general malaise will follow. People who 
use the river water will eat well and sleep well. 

"It is natural for people to look at every country from the standpoint 
most familiar to the individual, consequently the healthfulness of Dakota 
was uppermost in my mind as the train rushed on through the wonderful 
country, rich in ozone and health giving air. 

' ' As we passed town after town, I could not help noticing the sanitary 
surroundings to see whether any settler had violated the health maxim: 
'Locate dwellings to the windward of standing water.' Many an early 
settler's family has suffered years of ill health from a violation of this 
simple rule. 

" The flats along the east bank of the Mississippi have always been noto- 
riously unhealthy. The explanation is easy. Stagnant water generates 
gases that are unhealthy. Malarial emanations can arise from the large 
upland ponds that we pass in Dakota, but they can all be easily drained if 
necessary, so that if any case of chills and fever occurs in Dakota the people 
themselves will be to blame for it. I have not heard of a case as yet. 

"I could never quite comprehend why the Northwest competed with 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 69 

California as a health resort, particularly for consumptives, but I now un- 
derstand it. In several points they are similar, with the exception that 
the heavy fogs of the California coast are not found here. 

"First. The nights of both are cool, ensuring sound, invigorating sleep. 
So marked is this that I shall recommend some of my wakeful, brain- weary 
patients, business men of Chicago to visit Dakota. 

"Second. Both have a breeze springing up about ten o'clock in the fore- 
noon and subsiding toward night. The only difference is that the Dakota 
breeze is dry air, while the California one is moist, which toward evening 
becomes chilly — a very disagreeable feature for the feeble. 

" Third. Both have dust with the wind, but this, although disagreeable, 
is not a marked objection to the medical man who recognizes the curative 
power of the dry earth treatment. 'Let children play in the dirt and 
they will be healthy,' is an old adage. Here the dirt plays with the 
children, consequently they ought to be healthy. The children here are 
models of health. This is the land for vigorous, healthy children. 

" Dakota may yet be as famous for seekers after health as it now is for 
agricultural interest. I would advise those who would be benefited by a 
change of climate to visit Dakota. 

" Before we study the peculiarities of Dakota from a health point of view 
we will notice the essential requirements of a health resort. It must en- 
sure first, diversion of mind; second, deep respiration, and third, good 
digestion. 

" First. Diversion of mind stands at the front of all the requirements. To 
one familiar with low land, a visit to the mountains of Colorado, for exam- 
ple, is a wonderful diversion. It sooths and quiets. There is a majestic 
awe that steals over the mind. At the same time there is a stimulation 
that often prompts to over exertion, which may do great injury to the fee- 
ble. The broad expanse of water, lake or ocean, has a similar effect upon 
the mind with perhaps a still more soothing effect. The same result is 
produced by an ocean of prairie. To the citizens of a large city, a trip to 
the country anywhere is a good diversion. This is an advantage of a sub- 
urban residence, and a summer visit to some picturesque spot. The 
healthy diversion of a residence in a great city is familiar to you all. The 
large cities for health resorts, where mental diversion is the chief require- 
ment, will yet attract attention more and more. 

"Second. Deep respiration is a most essential requirement of any health 
resort. The citizen finds that the rarer air of the country forces its way 
into all the air cells of his lungs. Those who visit the mountains complain 
that they cannot get air enough. The air is so rare that they must breathe 
deeply. The same effect is produced on the ocean, for the reason that 
there is so much ozone in the atmosphere. The same is true of prairie 
air. A visit to pine forests, or where luxuriant vegetation absorbs the 
carbonic acid, has the same effect. The good effect of a trip to the South, 
especially in winter, with the agreeable diversion from snow to green 
foliage, is well known. The cool, crisp air of winter, although loaded with 



70 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

ozone and so invigorating to those robust and able to ' drink it in,' yet to 
the feeble it seems to produce a spasm of the bronchi that interferes with 
respiration. Diseased and sensitive lungs intuitively keep to the house, 
or hie away to a mild climate. But this should not be too warm nor 
supersaturated with moisture, or deep, healthy respiration will be impos- 
sible. The effect of deep respiration upon the heart and circulation should 
not be overlooked. If the heart is overtaxed, unfavorable reaction is sure 
to follow. 

" Third. Good digestion must be obtained at any good health resort. 
Where a person eats well and sleeps well, health and vigor come with 
rapid pace. Passive exercise, like riding m a car in almost any direction, 
will awaken the appetite of any one. A trip to the mountains 
usually makes one ' hungry as a bear.' A sea voyage stimulates an appe- 
tite for sea-biscuits of ten-penny nail consistence, while a ride over the 
prairies gives an appetite 'like a mowing machine,' as a facetious friend 
expressed it. 

" With the mind diverted, and the whole system stimulated by deep respi- 
ration, the tissues are cleared out, rapid oxidation takes place and ample 
digestion cares for the body, giving renewed vigor and health. It is as- 
tonishing the amount of food that can be encompassed at railroad eating 
houses with only 'twenty minutes for refreshments,' and digested, too, 
when one is being constantly exercised in a Pullman palace car. Assimi- 
lation is greatly increased under those circumstances. Good food must 
be secured at any good health resort ; substantial, palatable food must 
be obtained. 

"There are other elements that enter into the requirements of a health 
resort. One of them is good water. Water, like air, is a form of food. 
Water aids digestion, assimilation and excretion. 

" Latitude, as well as altitude, has a direct bearing on the value of a 
health resort. 

"The inhabitants at or about a health resort, must be taken into account. 
Disagreeable and dangerous people can mar and destroy a health resort. 
Some portions of the Southwest, while excellent locations for the sick, are 
not yet available for these reasons. 

"Whether Dakota answers the requirements of a health resort can be 
gleaned from its characteristics. 

"It is a vast plateau reached from Chicago after passing up through hill 
and dale, over rivers and picturesque lakes. As far as the eye can reach 
for miles and miles, green, waving grass or grain is seen below, and a clear, 
blue sky above. The effect upon the mind is most soothing. Dakota is so 
situated that there are constant breezes coming up the rivers, and over the 
broad expanse of prairie. These increase with the evaporating heavy 
dews, and wax and wane with the sun, as in California. The lakes and 
moisture are on the high ground, so that the air is not so dry as in Colo- 
rado, therefore there is a large amount of ozone always present. The river 
and surface water is a mild alkaline water. The chief ingredient is mag- 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 71 

nesia. The soil is loaded with saline ingredients which increase the nitro- 
genous elements of the food, rendering Dakota products very healthful 
and appetizing. The people of Dakota are vigorous, intelligent, enter- 
prising and remarkably hospitable. 

"These are features that, in the opinion of many medical men, will yet 
make Dakota a famous health resort. 

"The class of cases that will be especially benefited will readily occur 
to you. 

"For consumptives and those suffering with diseases of the lungs, in 
general, it will yet rival Colorado or California, especially for the first 
stage of lung troubles. The tax upon the circulation will not be so great 
as in higher altitudes. Advanced cases had better go South, especially in 
winter. 

"The absence of low marshes and malaria make it desirable for those 
troubled with bilious disorders. 

" For diseases of the kidney and bladder, the water of Dakota is espe- 
cially valuable, rivaling that of any noted waters. 

" For dyspeptics, especially, the climate, water and cereal products of 
Dakota will yet have a great reputation. 

" For agreeable,- mental diversion there is no better, safer resort. City 
business men should take a few weeks' vacation in Dakota, especially in 
the spring and fall. The mental diversion and physical energy recovered 
would amply repay them. Young ladies in the East, suffering from neu- 
rasthenia and ennui, would get health by a short residence in Dakota — as 
well as a husband, perhaps, and a slice of Government land. 

"The whole country is filling up rapidly with very intelligent people. 
In the many towns springing up are excellent openings for young men, 
with a little money. Money is in great demand. The enterprising railroads 
that are assisting amazingly to develop this country, will furnish maps and 
particulars as to special points. Physicians who have visited Dakota agree 
that the trip is a delightful one. 

"Dakota is destined, physically, as it is commercially, to wield an im- 
mense influence in this Nation. It can invite the dyspeptic, hollow- 
chested young men from the East and expand and develop them into 
vigorous manhood. The sanitary features of this country should be as 
widely known as are its agricultural advantages." 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



RIVERS AND LAKES. 



It is estimated that Dakota has 1,400 square miles of water surface. 
The principal streams are the Missouri, James or " Jim," Big Sioux, Ver- 
million, Red, White, Bad, Cheyenne, Moreau, Grand, Cannon Ball, Heart, 
Sheyenne, Mouse, Little Missouri, and Maple rivers. 

A great number of lakes are scattered throughout the Territory, nota- 
bly in the counties of Brookings, Kingsbury, Hamlin, Codington, Wal- 
worth, Brown, Day, Roberts, Emmons, Logan, Barnes, Stutsman, Kidder, 
Burleigh, Turner, Benson, Ramsey, Nelson, Foster, Griggs, Deuel, Clark, 
Charles Mix, Brule, Lake, and Aurora. The Turtle Mountain country, in 
the counties of Bottineau and Rolette, is full of small lakes and ponds, as 
is also the wide belt of low hills, the Plateau du Coteau du Missouri, ex- 
tending diagonally from the northwest to the southeast corners of the 
Territory. 

Big Stone lake and Lake Traverse are bodies of water about twenty-five 
miles long and one or two miles in breadth, forming a portion of the bound- 
ary line separating Grant and Roberts counties, Dakota, from Minnesota. 
Devils Lake or Spirit lake of the Indians, situated in Ramsey and Benson 
counties, is about fifty miles long, with a breadth ranging from a few rods 
to several miles, and is much the largest lake in the Territory. It covers 
about 100 square miles of surface and has a shore line of more than 250 
miles. The waters of the lake are strongly saline, with a dark green color, 
resembling that of the ocean. It has no outlet and is surrounded by nar- 
row belts of heavy, native timber. The lake is the breeding place of 
myriads of gulls, geese, ducks, snipe, curlew, brant and swan, and is a 
paradise for sportsmen. It varies in depth from a few feet to more than 
a hundred, and is elevated some 1,200 feet above the sea. 

The Missouri river, varying in width from one-fourth of a mile to two 
miles, is the most important of all the streams of the Territory. It flows 
in a general southeastern direction, through a course, counting its wind- 
ings, of fully 1,000 miles within the boundaries of Dakota, dividing the 
Territory into two nearly equal divisions. Frequent analysis has proved 
the water in this stream to be the purest river water in the world, al- 
though no one would imagine this to be true, looking at the 'turgid, 
muddy, yellow surface of the stream— caused by the great amount of sand* 
and sediment held in solution. 



BES0UKCE3 OF DAKOTA. 73 

The Missouri is navigable for steamers of several hundred tons burden, 
eight months of the year; the boats ascending as high as Fort Benton, in 
Montana, 3,000 miles from where it discharges into the Mississippi, and 
4,000 from the Gulf of Mexico. .This river is of the greatest value to the 
people of Dakota, as a line of transportation, and must ever remain so. 
No matter how many railroads may be built in the Territory, the river 
will always serve that great purpose of a regulator of high tariff. 

By means of the Missouri river every bushel of wheat raised in Dakota 
could be transported entirely by water to any sea-port of the globe. 

Tha following account of the early attempts to navigate the upper Mis- 
souri, from the annual report of the chief of engineers of the United 
States army, 1883, is of interest: 

" Up to 1830, the American fur company still clung to their keel or Mack- 
inac boats, and dragged them by human labor from St. Louis, Missouri, 
to the mouth of the Yellowstone, in Dakota. In that year, Pierre Choteau 
and the other members of the company determined to- try a steamboat. 
The boat was built at Pittsburg, Pa., and in the spring of 1831, left that 
port for St. Louis. It was called the ' Yellowstone ' and drew three feet 
eight inches light, five feet loaded. 

"Succeeded in reaching Fort Pierre, (Stanley county, Dakota), in 1831, 
but low water prevented further progress, and it returned to St. Louis. 
In 1832 it succeeded in reaching the mouth of the Yellowstone. This suc- 
cess led to the building of another boat at Pittsburg, called the ' Assina- 
boine.' This boat made its first trip in 1833, ascending as high as the 
mouth of the Yellowstone and returned safely to St. Louis. It repeated 
the trip in 1834 and 1835. In the latter year, after discharging its cargo at 
the mouth of the Yellowstone, an experimental trip was made higher up 
the river, reaching the mouth of the Poplar, in Montana; here it was 
caught by the falling water and compelled to pass the winter. 

"The next season, on its way to St. Louis, it was destroyed by fire, in 
the vicinity of the mouth of the Heart river, opposite the present site of 
the city of Bismarck. 

"The American fur company subsequently owned a considerable num- 
ber of steamboats, and every year saw one or more ascend to the mouth 
of the Yellowstone. Several attempts were made to push still higher up 
the river, but with indifferent success as only the ' El Paso ' succeeded in 
passing the mouth of the Milk river, Montana, and that only a few miles. 
Mackinac, or keel boats, therefore, continued to be used on the Yellowstone 
and the Missouri rivers in Montana; but, in 1859, a more determined effort 
was made. The 'Chippewa' had been built for the company with special 
reference to the difficulties to be surmounted above the Yellowstone. It 
had a stern wneel, being the first of that description ever employed on 
the upper Missouri. The 'Chippewa' left St. Louis in the spring of 1859. 
It was considered doubtful whether it would be able to pass the shoals 
above the mouth of the Judith, and a large Mackinac was towed behind to 
lighten it by unloading the freight, destined for Ft. Benton, Montana. 



74 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

This was done just above'^the mouth of the Judith; the 'Chippewa' 
passed on and reached a point a few miles beiow Ft. Benton on the 17th 
of June. Here the]voyage*ended, and, rejoiced at having achieved a suc- 
cess so decided, Mr. Choteau started the boat for St. Louis. The following 
year the 'Chippewa' ascended to Ft. Benton, accompanied by the 'Key 
West,' and thus in 1860, the present head of navigation on the Missouri 
river was first reached by steamboat." 

The conditions under which steamboats operate on the Missouri river 
in the transportation of freight and passengers are so totally different from 
those on Eastern rivers that their design has to conform to the necessities 
of the case. The boats are of very light draught, and of great length and 
width in proportion to their depth. Their models vary widely from all 
the usual standard shapes, and are said to have been designed after the 
pattern of the mouth of the cat-fish. The engines are placed at the ex- 
treme after end of the hull, and are coupled at right angles to the shaft of 
the wheel, which is very much less in diameter than the wheels of a side- 
wheel boat, but extends nearly 'the whole width of the boat. The boilers 
are placed forward of the center. It is stated that a stern wheel boat will 
carry a load of 1,000 tons onjbut little more than half the depth of water 
required by a side wheelerjbr^the same load. Another important feature 
of the Missouri river boats is the spars used for lifting and dragging the 
boat over shoals and bars. 

In 1881, five lines of steamboats made their headquarters at Bismarck, 
Dakota, and twenty-one^boats plied between that town and points on the 
Missouri river, making, during the season of navigation, from one hundred 
and fifty, to one hundred and seventy-five trips. These boats carried into 
Montana 34,760,0(XTpounds of freight, valued at $5,214,000. The extensive 
railway construction"of the past few years throughout the Northwest, has 
had the effect of reducing the amount of river transportation; however, it 
is still quite heavy and boats ply regularly, during the season, between 
Sioux City and Bismarck, and Bismarck and the head of navigation. At 
present nine boats areln the trade'between Bismarck and Montana, and 
it is estimated that they will handle upward of 16,000,000 pounds of freight 
during the season of navigation. 

Navigation opens'about the 27th]of March and closes about the 10th of 
November. 

The Nationar.Governmenc annually expends large sums of money in 
improvements to the channel of the Missouri river, through the Territory. 

The Big Cheyenne, which drains the Black Hills region, contributes the 
largest volume of water to the Missouri river. The greater part of this 
stream lies within the boundaries of the Sioux Indian reservation, as also 
does that of the White, Bad, Moreau, and Grand rivers. The Cannon Ball 
river forms the northern boundary of this reservation. 

The Souris, or Mouse river is an erratic stream which, rising in the 
British Possessions, follows a southeasterly course to a point in Dakota 
sixty-five milessouth of the International boundary line, where it again 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 75 

turns northward and finally re-enters the Queen's Dominions. It flows 
for the most part, at a much lower level than that of the adjacent prairie, 
and its banks are covered with an abundant growth of timber. 

The Red River of the North forms the boundary line between Dakota 
and Minnesota from Lake Traverse to the Canada line. It is a deep, 
narrow and exceedingly crooked stream, traveling a devious course of 
some six hundred miles before finally emptying its waters into Lake Win- 
nepeg, Manitoba. The valley of the river is from sixty to eighty miles 
east and west by 300 miles north and south, every acre of which is the 
finest wheat land in the world. One hundred and eighty miles in length 
and forty miles in width of this valley, are situated in Dakota. The whea 
raised in the Red River valley is a grade unto itself, from the fact of its 
richness in albuminoids and its extreme dryness. It all grades No. 1, 
hard, and commands the highest market price. 

Steamers of two or three hundred tons burden (similar in construction 
to the Missouri river steamers, as described in the remarks on that 
stream), ply about eight months in the year as far up the river as Fargo, a 
distance of nearly 400 miles; and a part of the season, as high as Aber- 
crombie, fifty miles farther. 

Captain Alexander Griggs, at present the chairman of the Territorial 
board of railroad commissioners, built one of the first steamers on the 
river, — the "Selkirk," in 1871. From that date the number of boats in- 
creased rapidly, and in 1882, freight to the amount of 63,303,673 pounds 
was carried by water between Fargo and Pembina. The Government has 
annually appropriated a considerable sum for the improvement of naviga- 
tion on this river. During the summer months, millions of feet of pine 
logs are run down the Red River from the Red lake and Ottertail pineries 
in Minnesota, to the saw mills at Grand Forks. These mills manufactured 
7,000,000 feet of lumber last season, and it is estimated that amount will be 
increased this year, to 20,000,000 feet, 

The James, or, as it is commonly known, the "Jim" river, which drains 
the country lying between the Red River and its tributaries of the north 
and the Sioux and Vermillion rivers of the south, on the east, and the Mis- 
souri river on the west, is not navigable. It has its source near Devils 
Lake in the northern portion of the Territory and flows in a southerly 
course to its junction with the Missouri in the vicinity of Yankton, on the 
extreme southern boundary of Dakota. The James, from source to 
mouth, has a length, counting its numerous bends and curves, of some five 
hundred miles, and is the longest stream wholly in Dakota, The valley 
of the James river is of great width and may be described as one vast 
prairie, bounded east and west by the horizon, and extending a distance 
north and south of nearly 400 miles. The fame of the fertility of its soil 
has had much to do with the rapid settlement of central Dakota, — by 
which is meant that portion of the Territory having the valley of the Mis- 
souri river for its western boundary, and bounded on the east by the val- 
leys of the Red and the Big Sioux. 



76 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

The valley of the James contains, not only the richest of farming land, 
thickly settled upon by well-to-do farmers, but along its course of many 
hundred miles, separated by easy distances, are located many of the most 
prosperous, enterprising and growing cities and villages of the Territory. 

The Big Sioux is an important stream, carrying a large volume of 
water, the drainage of innumerable lakes, ponds and marshes, situated 
around its head-waters in Kingsbury, Hamlin, Codington, Day and other 
counties. It flows in a southerly direction, forming the boundary line be- 
tween Lincoln and Union counties Dakota, and the state of Iowa, and 
empties into the Missouri at the extreme southeastern point of the Terri- 
tory. The Big Sioux river furnishes the best water power m the Terri- 
tory — equalled in all the Northwest only by the Falls of St. Anthony, on 
the Mississippi river at Minneapolis, Minnesota. At Sioux Falls, in Minne- 
haha county, the river falls through a series of cascades, a distance of 
ninety-one feet in running half a mile and supplies motive power for two 
large flouring mills, (one of which is seven stories high and occupies a 
ground floor space of 80x100 feet,) granite polishing works and other in- 
dustries. There is practically no limit to the power which can be sup- 
plied by the numerous falls of this stream, in the vicinity of Sioux Falls 
and Dell Rapids, when fully developed. 

The Vermillion river has its source in the northern part of Miner 
county and flows south, about midway between the James and Big Sioux 
rivers, through the counties of McCook, Turner and Clay and joins with 
the Missouri near the flourishing city of Vermillion. The waters of this 
stream pass through some of the best cultivated and oldest settled lands 
in the Territory. 

The Sheyenne is a stream of great length, having its source in Mc- 
Henry county, whence it flows in a southeasterly direction through 
the counties of Benson, Eddy, Nelson, Griggs, Barnes, Ransom ; thence 
running northeast through the counties of Richland and Cass, to its union 
with the Red. The region that is drained is more varied than that of 
the Red River valley, consisting of rolling prairies, diversified by ranges 
of low hills. The land is almost uniformally good; is easily tilled and 
highly productive. Many fine stock farms and ranches are situated 
along this stream. 

The Little Missouri river rises in Wyoming, northwest of the Black 
Hills, and flows in a northerly direction, through the western line of Da- 
kota's counties and empties into the Missouri, near the Ft. Buford Indian 
reservation. It is a considerable stream, and is noted for the extensive 
coal deposits along its shores and the fine grazing country through which 
it runs. Many thousand head of range cattle, fattened on the native 
grasses of the valley of the Little Missouri, are shipped annually to the 
Eastern markets. 

Innumerable streams of greater or less length flow into these large 
rivers, draining all sections of the vast Territory and furnishing, in their 
immediate vicinity, an ample supply of pure and sweet water for man and 
beast. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 77 



WELLS. 



Where water is not to be had from a running stream, or from the num- 
erous hillside springs, abounding in many localities, it is generally very 
easily obtained by dug or driven wells. 

In most of the counties, a vein of excellent water is found, at a depth 
varying from a few feet to forty or more, by driving down an inch and a 
quarter gas pipe, to which is attached the usual style of driven well point 
and wire strainer. The operation is a simple one and inexpensive; a 
complete well of this sort costing from twenty-five to fifty dollars. 

In some localities the underground veins of water are at a greater depth 
from the surface and, in such case, it becomes necessary to dig wells, or 
bore one of the tubular pattern. 

The settler, in any part of Dakota, finds but little difficulty in obtaining 
a supply of good, pure water, either from some of the countless streams, 
lakes, swamps and ponds scattered throughout every county, or else by 
sinking a well of one of the patterns described. Many of the farms have 
wind-mills attached to the pumps and, by this means, supply a constant 
flow of fresh, cool water for both house and stable. 

Numerous artesian wells, from Yankton in the south, to Jamestown in 
the north, furnish every town of any importance, in the James River val- 
ley with a never-failing water-works system. In the counties bordering 
the Red River, artesian veins are found at a comparatively short dis- 
tance below the surface of the valley. The water is forced out, generally, 
with a pressure sufficient for fire protection and to carry it wherever de- 
sired. 

In response to inquiries sent out by this office, twenty-nine counties re- 
port artesian wells in successful operation — a sufficient warranty, one 
would imagine, for the expectation of obtaining this bountiful supply of 
water, together with power and fire protection — wherever, in Dakota, the 
proper effort is exerted. 

At the last session of the Territorial Legislature, (1887), a general law 
was enacted providing for the construction and maintenance of artesian 
wells in towns, townships, cities and counties, by the assessment of an 
equal tax upon the property owners and residents of the district or com- 
munity to be benefited — a provision which will undoubtedly lead to an 
extension of the advantages arising from artesian wells to a great many 
farming communities. 

A more detailed account of Dakota's artesian wells will be found on 
the succeeding pages of this publication. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.— WHEAT. 



Wheat is Dakota's principal agricultural product and will undoubtedly 
ever remain her chief staple, owing to the extremely favorable conditions 
which prevail within the Territory for raising the best quality of wheat at 
the lowest possible cost per bushel. The report of the Bureau of Chem- 
istry of the United States Department of Agriculture, 1884, contains the 
result of an analysis of 2,759 specimens of wheat, among which were in- 
cluded samples from every state of the Union, and many foreign coun- 
tries. 

The chemist, (page 70-79 of the report), says that the determination of 
the albuminoids, in connection with the size and condition of the wheat, 
settle, so far as a chemical and physical examination can succeed, the 
peculiarities and relative values of the samples submitted. 

The result of the analysis is to establish the fact by National investiga- 
tion that in the two most important desiderata, dryness and richness in 
albuminoids, Dakota wheat ranks the best of any grown on American soil, 
and probably averages the best of all the world. 

The following table is copied from the chemist's report: 

AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OP WATER AND ALBUMINOIDS IN THE COMPOSITION OF 

AMERICAN WHEAT. 



Locality. 



Water, 
per cent. 



DAKOTA 8.84 

Pennsylvania 10.73 

Maryland 10.52 

Virginia 9.98 

West Virginia 8.55 

North Carolina 10.03 

Georgia 10.00 

Alabama ' 10.82 

Ohio 10.68 

Tennessee 10.24 

Kentucky 10.83 

Michigan 10.71 

Missouri 9.80 

Arkansas 9.56 

Minnesota 9.96 

Kansas 11.80 

Texas 10.03 

Colorado 9.73 

Utah 9.17 

New Mexico 9.30 

California 10. 73 

Oregon 9.74 

Washington Territory 9.89 





Highest 


Albumi- 


per cent. 


noids, 


Album'ds 


per cent. 


m anv 




specim'n. 


14.95 


18.03 


11.44 


15.58 


11.65 


14.53 


12.10 


14.00 


10.94 


11.03 


10.43 


12.43 


11.78 


14.00 


11.29 


13.65 


12.83 


16.10 


12.50 


16.63 


13.15 


14.53 


11.67 


15.23 


11.56 


14.00 


12.95 




13.19 


17.15 


11.15 


12.25 


13.14 


15.23 


12.73 


15.94 


10.15 


10.50 


10.50 


11.73 


10.94 


12.78 


8.60 


9.47 


8.23 


8.75 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 79 

The average percentage of albuminoids in the wheats of all the United 
States and British America is 12.15. In Dakota the average percentage is 
14.95, leading every state and territory. The average percentage of dry- 
ness of the wheats of the United States and British America is 10.16. In 
this respect Dakota also leads every competitor with an average percent- 
age of only 8.84 of water in the composition of wheat grown on her soil. 

PAC-SIMILE OP FIRST PREMIUM AWARDED THE DAKOTA EXHIBIT 

For the best grade of hard wheat, World's Industrial Exposition, New Orleans, 1885. 




80 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Commenting on the result of this investigation the chemist says: 
"as will be seen, the Dakota specimens are all extremely rich in al- 
buminoids; one containing as high as 18.03 per cent., which is the richest 
specimen ever analyzed in the United States." 

On page 111 of the report, the chemist has this to say of the result of an 
exhaustive analysis of samples of flours submitted from the various mill- 
ing centers of the country: "The Eastern flour is poorer in ni- 
trogen and gluten than any of the others. In fact, the flours follow 
closely the composition of the wheat which had been examined from the 
same parts of the country. Dakota makes a flour richer than any other, 
in gluten, in the same way that it produces a wheat of that description. 
The average of these ' Northwestern- spring wheat flours' is high, and in 
comparison with the rest of the country, they are the richest which have 
been analyzed. The hard wheats of the Northwest have furnished the 
country with a finer flour than it has before possessed, and in the baking 
experiments, the bread made from these flours excelled all others in 
quality." 

These experiments, carried on by authority of the National Govern- 
ment, establish two facts: 

First. That a bushel of Dakota wheat will make more bread than the 
same quantity of wheat raised in any other state or territory of the Union. 

Second. That the bread made from Dakota wheat flour contains more 
gluten and other of the materials which nourish and build up the human 
body, than bread made from any other brand. 

At the World's Exposition, New Orleans, 1884-5, Dakota was awarded 
first premium for wheat over competitors from all the famous wheat-grow- 
ing countries of the world. A fac- simile of the award is shown on the 
preceding page. 

Dakota's soil not only produces the finest wheat in the world, worth from 
five to ten cents more a bushel than the best grade of other markets, but 
it is raised at the lowest possible cost of production. 

From the Government census of 1880 we deduce the following figures: 
The average value of a farm in the state of New York, including land, 
fences and buildings, is $4,561 ; the average size of a farm in that state is 
99 acres, making an average investment of $46 for every acre. In the 
state of Ohio the average value of farm property is $44 per acre. In Da- 
kota the farmer has an average investment in his farm property of only 
$5.90 per acre and he raises a finer grade of wheat than does the Eastern 
farmer, with ten times the amount invested and with a corresponding in- 
creased annual outlay for taxes and interest on the investment. 

A prominent citizen of the Territory — one who has heavy interests in 
the lands of both Dakota and the state of New York, is authority for the 
following comparison : 

"A farm situated in western New York, and containing say 160 acres of 
land, will pay a tax of from $75 to $100 per annum, while a fairly well im- 
proved farm in Dakota, of the same acreage will be taxed but from $25 to 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 81 

$40; here, in the item of taxes alone is a margin of saving to the Western 
farmer of about $50 per year. A mortgaged farm of say about 160 acres in 
western New York usually carries a mortgaged debt of not less than 
$5,000; the interest upon this debt at the rate of 5 per cent., (the lowest 
rate made in that section,) is $250 per year. Now, on the other hand, the 
average mortgage upon a fairly improved farm of 160 acres situated in Da- 
kota, is not more than $800, and, at the highest rate of interest now ex- 
acted in this Territory upon real estate mortgage security, namely 10 per 
cent., the interest upon a Dakota mortgage would be $80 per annum. 
Thus we see that in the matter of interest there is a difference in the 
favor of the Dakota farmer of $210 per year, which added to the $50 saved 
in the way of taxes, makes a net yearly saving to the Dakota farmer of 
$260, not by any means an insignificant amount at this period of meager 
margin of profit in general farming operations throughout all sections of 
this country." 

The East can never compete with Dakota in the cheapness of the pro- 
duction of a bushel of wheat, no more than can she raise wheat of an 
equal quality. 

The following estimates of the actual cost of raising a bushel of wheat in 
Dakota, during a season of average conditions of favorableness, will be of 
interest to the intending settler: 

Mr. Henry Sleight, a reliable farmer of Stutsman county, says: " In May 
and June, 1881, I broke 113 acres, with 12-inch walking plows, about three 
inches deep and back-set in July and August, about an inch deeper than 
the breaking. Last spring, as soon as the frost was out of the ground suf- 
ficiently, I went over it once with a disc harrow and seeded it with Scotch 
Fife wheat, one and a half bushels to the acre, using force-feed broadcast 
seeders, following with common harrows twice over. The seeding was 
completed about the middle of April. The wheat came up quickly and 
evenly and gave promise of an extraordinary crop until the July drouth, 
which checked it in heading and materially reduced the yield. Harvest- 
ing was done about the middle of August, and threshing from the shock 
in September. The crop on the 113 acres was 3,912 bushels, over 34J 
bushels per acre. 

"The cost of producing the crop, as given below, is the actual expense 
for labor — $25 per month wages and 50 cents a day board for men, and 16f 
cents a day for feed for each horse. In threshing, five additional men 
were employed at $2 per day, which is also included in the cost of threshing. 

SUMMARY. 

Seed wheat, 169J bushels, at 75 cents $ 127 13 

Pulverizing with disc harrow, man and 3 horses, 5£ days 10 84 

Seeding, man and two horses, 9h days ....... 17 00 

Dragging, man and two horses, 11 days 21 67 

Harvesting, two men and three horses, nine days 29 25 

Binding twine 41 00 

Threshing and putting in granary 152 50 

Stubble plowing 85 88 

Total $ 485 27 



82 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

" By proportioning the taxes assessed last June,[the interest on the cost 
of the farm, stock, machinery and other equipments, and on the expense 
of operating the farm, for the current year at 6 per cent., the wear and 
tear of stock, machinery, etc., together with the expense of keeping the 
stock during the winter, the cost of production will be increased about 
$345— making a total of $830.27. 

"That the statement may be better understood, I will add that the farm 
contains 800 acres; about 700 acres under cultivation, 80 acres of fine hay 
meadow and 20 acres taken up by highways. The cost of the land, build- 
ings and breaking was about $20,000, and of the stock, machinery, imple- 
ments, etc., about $6,500. As the land was all comparatively free from 
noxious plants, no summer fallowing was done this year on the farm, and 
the teams were engaged nearly two months — from the last of May until 
the latter part of July — in breaking and fallow-plowing for others." 

The cost of raising a bushel of wheat in this instance, after adding to 
the farm expenses an allowance for taxes, interest, wear and tear of ma- 
chinery, etc., was but 21|- cents. Had it not been for the July weather, 
Mr. S. is certain his yield would have been 40 bushels per acre instead of 
34J, which would have materially reduced the cost per bushel of produc- 
tion. 

The following shows the actual result of the cultivation of 155 acres in 
1885 — an unfavorable year: 

Plowing 155 acres, fall of 1884 ..$ 194 00 

Seed 119 25 

Interest on above, 10 months at 10 per cent 25 85 

Seeding 155 acres 155 00 

Rolling 30 00 

Interest on above, 4 months 6 08 

Harvesting and shocking 232 50 

Threshing and delivering at elevator, 11 cents per bushel 357 50 

Tax on land 25 00 

Interest on money invested in land 130 00 

Total cost $1,275 18 

The yield was 21 bushels to the acre, a- total of 3,255 bushels. The cost 
of raising wheat as per above statement was about 36 cents per bushel. 

W. W. Warren, Esq., general manager of the Grandin Brothers' farm, 
at Mayville, Traill county, says that the cost of raising a bushel of wheat 
on that farm, including interest on capital, wear on machinery, Wages, in- 
cidentals, etc., is a little less than 24 cents per bushel. 

Hon. Lauren Dunlap, late Commissioner of Immigration for Dakota, 
prepared the following table on the cost of wheat production in the Terri- 
tory, as showing the average expense to the ordinary farmer, based upon 
actual results within the knowledge of this office: 



RESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 83 

COST OF PRODUCTION PER ACRE. 

Plowing $1 00 

Seeding, 1£ bushels at 80 cents 1 20 

Cultivation and sowing 50 

Harvesting and stacking 1 25 

Threshing and marketing 2 00 

Total ." $5 95 

EXAMPLE. 

Plowing 160 acres, at $1 $ 160 00 

Seed for same, 240 bushels, at80 cents 192 00 

Cultivating and sowing, at 50 cents per acre 80 00 

Harvesting and stacking, at $1.25 per acre 200 00 

Threshing and marketing, 3,200 bushels at 10 cents 320 00 

Interest on capital invested, $2,000 at 10 per cent 200 00 

Total $1,152 00 

Cost of production per acre, counting a yield of 20 bushels $ 7 20 

Cost of production per bushel 36 

The highest estimated cost of the production of a bushel of wheat in 
any one of the statements quoted — 36 cents — is lower than the estimated 
cost of production in the great wheat growing country of India, and is at 
least 50 per cent, below the average cost of production throughout the 
United States. 

An official document estimates the cost of growing wheat on manured 
and irrigated land in India, at a little under a shilling per bushel, or in- 
clusive of rent, Is. 6d., or 36J cents. This includes seed and threshing. 

The statistician of the Department of Agriculture — Hon. J. R. Dodge — 
says: 

"While India is the principal competitor of the United States in the 
world's markets, her importance as a competitor is greatly overrated. 
The occurrence of a 'famine year' would reduce to zero her exports. So 
fixed are the industrial usages of the people that great enlargement of the 
wheat area is next to an impossibility ; there has been no material increase 
as a result of the exportation of the surplus of the last ten years. The ex- 
tension of railroad mileage has facilitated the shipping of the surplus of 
good years which would otherwise have been pitted to eke out subsist- 
ence in famine years. It might not be fair to say that these shipments 
have produced no effect; if any, it has been very small. The exports of 
ten years include nearly the sum of India's record of exportation, and 
would scarcely equal the crop of an average year. A 10 per cent, surplus 
that cannot be depended on in a crop half as large as ours, cannot take 
the place of our surplus, which is more than half as large as the India 
crop." 



84 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

He is also authority for the statement that while the cost of production 
under favorable circumstances, and in the best localities of India, may be 
35 to 40 cents per bushel, wheat can rarely be brought to the"principal 
markets and sold for less than 60 cents. 

Consul-general Mattson, at Calcutta, says that the native of India can 
afford to sell his wheat at the nearest market place, if within a day's jour- 
ney of his home, for 50 to 60 cents per bushel ; but when it does not bring 
that price, or very near it, he either consumes his small supply, or stores 
it in a hole under the ground until a more favorable time shall come. 

English wheat-growers claim that it costs about $40 an acre to grow 
wheat in England, and that they must get from 40 to 45 shillings a quarter, 
or from $1.09 to §1.36 a bushel for their grain to make the growing of it 
profitable. 

Dakota has the soil, the climate and every advantage in her favor as a 
competitor for supplying England, the great wheat market of the world, 
with bread, and whenever our intelligent, thinking farmers grasp the sit- 
uation and till their lands as do the farmers of Europe, or even the farm- 
ers of the older settled areas of our own country, we shall at once attain, 
and forever maintain the prestige of wheat producers of the globe. 

If the Dakota farmer can afford to raise wheat under the general hap- 
hazard style of farming, which brings him only a third of the yield the 
land ought to and would produce with skillful management; with a reck- 
less investment in farm machinery and an utter disregard of caring for 
it after it has been purchased, as has characterized his operations in 
the past; and with no thought of husbanding his crops for a favorable 
market but, acting in concert with all his neighbors he throws the entire 
season's yield, as soon as threshed, on the hands of the grain specula- 
tor, which, as a matter of course, affects the markets disastrously — and 
still compete with the pauper-labor of India and the careful, painstaking 
farmer of Europe, what wealth and prosperity is in store for this same 
farmer when he shall, by means of scientific agriculture, double the 
yields of his fields; when he shall act judiciously in creating indebtedness 
and sensibly in housing his machinery ; when he shall provide a storage- 
house for his grain, and compel the grain buyer to seek him nstead of put- 
ting himself entirely within the power of the elevators as now, and, last 
of all, when he shall diversify his crop and combine stock-raising, dairy- 
ing, and the other valuable adjuncts of farming with his yearly wheat 
ventures! 

The yield of wheat in England is from twenty-six to twenty-eight bush- 
els per acre ; in France twenty-four, — about twice as much as the yield in 
the United States. And why? The answer is obvious — this high yield i& 
the sole result of science, and thrift, applied to farming operations. The 
natural fertility of the soil does not necessarily control the yield of a coun- 
try. No where on the globe, is there a wheat growing soil to compete with 
that of the Red River valley — and yet the poor, worn out lands of some of 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 85 

the Eastern states are caused, through skilled effort, to bring forth heav- 
ier crops than this favored spot. 

The farmers of New England cultivate a soil of sand and gravel, but by 
constant tillage and the use of fertilizers, this same land has averaged for 
the past five years a yield of 30.8 bushels of corn to the acre, while the 
rich loam of the Missouri valley — where nature has furnished every aid to 
increase the farmer's wealth, — returned but 29.8 bushels. 

It costs the Dakota farmer quite as much for seed, labor, taxes, living,, 
etc, to raise twelve bushels of wheat to the acre as if he had raised double 
the amount. An increase of a single bushel in the average yield of wheat 
means over 12,000,000 to be distributed among the farmers of Dakota — 
every cent of which, outside of the cost of threshing and marketing, is 
clear gain. 

^Statistical research shows that a crude agriculture is not abundant in 
product, and that it is compelled to pay high interest on borrowed money. 
A low grade of farming is cursed with mortgages and mildews, with in- 
sects and ignorance. Uncertainty broods over its harvests, and famine 
decimates its people. Famine is unknown in a country of advanced agri- 
culture, though a fourth of its people only may be engaged in rural pro- 
duction. On the contrary, millions famish in India, while most of its peo- 
ple are in agriculture. * * * * * * * 

In seasons unfavorable to production, the money value of skill and 
science in agriculture is immensely enhanced. It is often remarked that 
farmers receive as much for a very small crop as for a very large one. In 
1881, 1,195,000,000 bushels of corn were worth $760,000,000; in 1884, 1,795,- 
000,000 bushels were valued at $641,000,000; a small crop was worth 63.6 
cents per bushel, a larger one 35.7 cents. A crop of cotton once sold for 
$40,000,000 less than the previous one, which was more than 1,000,000 bales 
larger. Nevertheless there is disaster in a small crop. The failure is un- 
equally distributed. The few advanced farmers grow nearly full crops, and 
receive larger revenues than usual; the many unskilled and careless suf- 
fer disastrous reduction of yield and quality, and fail to make return for 
seed and labor. Given unscientific agriculture, with an inauspicious sea- 
son, and the poor may grow poorer, while the scientific farmer, in the 
same year, may grow richer. * * ■ * # * -* 

Among the results due to applied science in the work of agriculture, the 
following are prominent: 

First. Fertility is increased; the rate of yield is greatly enlarged; labor 
is lightened; the laborer is less a 'beast of burden, ' and more a master of 
machinery. 

Second. The margin of profit is increased, or rather, one appears where 
none before existed. 

Third. Production is equalized — there are fewer gluts of certain pro- 
ducts, and greater variety in production. 

*Hon. J. R. Dodge, Statistician, Department Agriculture, Washington, annual re- 
port, 1885. 



86 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Fourth. Disasters of primitive agriculture are partially averted — 
drought by deep and thorough culture, excessive rainfall, by drainage; in- 
sects are less numerous with rotation, and their injuries are outgrown by 
vigor of vitality and strength of growth; blights and other maladies of veg- 
etable physiology are avoided by amelioration of the soil and cultivation 
in harmony with the conditions of healthful growth. 

Finally, by application of the discoveries of science, the farmer unites 
brain with brawn in rural production, labor loses its drudgery and ac- 
quires effectiveness, the profit and pleasure of agriculture are advanced, 
the public wealth and welfare are promoted, and a country life, whatever 
its previous charms, is far better worth the living. 

The wheat crop of Dakota in 1880, as recorded in the annual report of 
the Department of Agriculture, was 80,704,000 bushels, the product of 
2,675,350 acres, or an average yield of 11.5 bushels to the acre. But this 
statement is almost as inaccurate and misleading as others referring to Da- 
kota, on page GO of the same official work, wherein it is said that "the 
varieties of spring wheat grown in southwestern (?) Dakota have a world- 
wide reputation for producing the best quality of flour!" that "our princi- 
pal market crop is flax!" and that " tomatoes and melons rarely mature on 
account of frost! ' " The truth of the matter is the Territory has never re- 
ceived proper credit for the crops she has raised — through the fault, chiefly, 
of her own weak and inoperative statistical law. 

As this law now stands, but a small proportion of the assessors of the 
Territory comply with its terms, and the Commissioner of Immigration is 
dependent almost solely on the kind co-operation of county auditors and 
clerks, city officials and voluntary reporters selected from among the 
farmers, for statistical information regarding the season's crops. 

Careful computations, verified in every instance by a number of reliable 
and competent citizens of each county, make the average sown to wheat 
in 1886 exceed the amount credited to Dakota in the report of the Com- 
missioner of Agriculture by 574,141 acres, or a total of 3,249,491. This 
would have given us, even at the average yield computed in his report, a 
crop of 37,369,146 bushels, or an excess of nearly 7,000,000 as compared 
with the estimates of the Department of Agriculture. Dakota was given 
the sixth place in the rank of wheat producing states and territories last 
year, whereas she was really entitled to the fourth — her yield of this cereal 
having been exceeded in quantity by the three states only of Ohio, Indiana 
and Minnesota — a splendid showing when we consider the fact that the 
season throughout the Northwest was one of the most unfavorable ever 
recorded. 

But it is the wheat crop of this year, (1887), which establishes Dakota in 

the lead, beyond all fear of # competition, as the greatest wheat producing 
country of the Union. 

Nearly two months' labor of this office have been spent in the collecting 

and compiling of several hundred reports and estimates of the season's 

crop area and yield per acre, received from leading farmers and reliable 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



87 



TABLE SHOWING THE WHEAT CROr OF DAKOTA 
In comparison with each state and territory in the 



in 1886, 
Union. 



Rank. States 




Bus/iets. 


43 MASSACHUSETTS, 


1 


17,000 


42 CONNECTICUT, 


I 


36,000 


41 WYOMING, 


s 


63,000 


40 NEVADA. 


■ 


72,000 



39 NEW HAMPSHIRE, 



38 MISSISSIPPI, 



169,000 



173,000 



37 ARIZONA, 
36 VERMONT, 



297,000 



35 MAINE, 



34 NEW MEXICO. 



410,000 
600.000 
921.000 



33 SOUTH CAROLINA. 



936,000 



32 IDAHO, 

31 DELAWARE, 

30 MONTANA, 



1,039,000 
1,177,000 



1,509,000 



29 ALABAMA, 
28 UTAH, 



27 GEORGIA, 

26 ARKANSAS, 
25 NEW JERSEY, 



24 COLORADO, 

23 WEST VIRGINIA, 

22 NORTH CAROLINA, 

21 TEXAS, 

20 VIRGINIA, 

19 MARYLAND, 



18 WASHINGTON TER.. 

17 TENNESSEE, 

16 NEW YORK, 

15 OREGON, 

14 KENTUCKY 

13 KANSAS. 

12 WISCONSIN. 

11 NEBRASKA, 

10 PENNSYLVANIA 

9 MISSOURI, 

8 MICHIGAN, 

7 ILLINOIS, 

6 DAKOTA, 

5 IOWA.' 

4 CALIFORNIA 

3 INDIANA 

2 oino 




1,529,000 
T,541,000 



1,690,000 
1,815.000 



2.260,000 



2,419,000 



3,061,000 



8.209.000 
5.8*3.000 
5,581,000 



7,194.000 



7,560,000 



8.024.000 



11,093,000 

11.133,000 
12.405.000 
14.556.000 
14,725,000 




! MINNESOTA 



27,562.000 
30,704,000 

32.455. ( 00 
"" 36, 165. 009 

40,255.000 
~ 40.302. 060 

42,856,000 



88 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

citizens, representing every county of the Territory. The acreage and 
yield for each county was obtained by taking the average of a number of 
estimates from different sources of the same locality, and, wherever pos- 
sible, this result was again verified by the assessors' annual return of sta- 
tistics. The totals, therefore, as herewith published are believed to be 
as nearly accurate and reliable as it is possible to make them. 

The showing is simply astounding, and almost beyond comprehension, 
viz.: a yield in 1887 of 62,553,499 bushels of wheat, from an acreage of 
3,818,754, or an average of 16£ bushels to the acre. 

Dakota, in 1887, raises more wheat than was ever credited to any one 
state of the Union for a season's yield, or about one-seventh of the entire 
wheat crop of the United States in 1886 — or almost one-thirtieth of the 
wheat crop of the world. 

Is further argument necessary to convince the public of the certainty 
of Dakota's future and of the permanence of her growth and development? 

The yield of wheat in 1887 is an increase of about 100 per cent, over the 
crop of 1886, as computed by the Department of Agriculture, and a gain 
of about 70 per cent, over the estimates for the preceding year, of this 
office. 

The acreage sown in 1887 is an increase of about one-fourth, as com- 
pared with the published report of the Commissioner of Agriculture in 
1886, or about one-fifth more than the estimated acreage for that year as 
made by this office. 

The average yield per acre in 1886 was 11.5 bushels; this season it is 16£, 
or a gain in the yield of over 40 per cent. 

Dakota, still a territory, with her resources but partially developed, with 
but one-thirtieth of her area sown to grain, has even now taken rank far 
ahead of the famous wheat-growing states of the Union, and leads all 
competitors in the quality of the grain produced and the cost of produc- 
tion. The eventualities of the near future, when the millions of acres of 
vacant land are peopled, and add their product to augment the Territory's 
grand total; when farmers apply lessons of science and economy to the 
operations of agriculture, and when the completion of the net-work of 
railroads now projected give the product of the most distant farm an out- 
let through the lakes to the sea-board at one-fourth the present cost of 
transportation, cannot fill the mind with a single hope of wealth, grand- 
eur and prosperity for Dakota which will not be realized. 

Dakota's prairies will furnish the bread supply of the Nation; the best 
article at the lowest price. 

The soil Of Dakota requires no fertilizer — her climate obviates any need 
of irrigation ; there are no stones or trees to be cleared from the farm 
and the smooth, level prairie permit of the use of many labor-saving 
farm tools, which the rough land and the small area of Eastern farms pre- 
clude. Furrows are run for miles without a turn, and it is a day's journey 
with a self-binder to cut the opening swath around one of Dakota's bo- 
nanza farms. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 89 

Dakota's wheat is all of the spring variety, and therefore the farmer is 
not subjected to the dangers of losing his crop by winter-killing, as hap- 
pens frequently to the winter wheat area. Damage to the crop by rust. 
Hessian fly, or chinch-bug has never occurred in the history of the Terri- 
tory. 

The entire wheat crop of the United States could be grown on Dakota's 
wheat land, antl even then there would remain a vacant area larger than 
the combined surface of the states of New York, Maryland, Vermont, 
New Hampshire, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware and 
Rhode Island. 

The following table shows the amount of wheat inspected at the princi- 
pal grain depots of the United States during the year ending December, 
1886: 



Locality. 

Minneapolis. 

Detroit 

Chicago 

Kansas City. 
Milwaukee... 
New York... 



No. of cars. 



59,322 
17,547 
34,160 
4,741 
14,472 
18,110 



The advantage and saving of water transportation, as compared with a 
long land haul in the movement of grain toward the great markets of the 
world, is too well known to need additional argument. Wheat was car- 
ried from Chicago to New York, by lake and canal, during the season of 
1886, for an average price of nine cents per bushel, and to Liverpool from 
New York, by ocean steamers, for an average tariff during the year of 7 J 
cents. The rate on grain by rail betw r een Chicago and New York, during 
the same period, was at no time less than 25 cents per bushel, and aver- 
aged for the year about 26 cents — nearly three times heavier than the lake 
and canal rate. 

During the year ending July 31, 1887, 38,500 car loads of wheat were re- 
ceived at Duluth, being considerably more than was handled at either 
Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, New York or Kansas City, and exceeded 
only by Minneapolis, for the year 1886. 

Since the opening of navigation, (1887), in less than fifty days, there 
had been shipped from Duluth 7,000,000 bushels of wheat — a wonderful 
increase over the shipments for the same length of time of any previous 
year. 

These facts are presented as a proof of the rapid strides taken by this 
new competitor in the direction of the leading wheat-shipping point of 
America, and as emphasizing the great advantage to the farmers of Da- 
kota of the many railway lines, already completed and under construc- 
tion, connecting the Territorial cities with Duluth, shortening, by more 
than one-half, the land haul from the wheat fields to the lakes. 

The time is rapidly approaching when the entire surplus wheat crop of 



90 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



the Northwest will find its way to the elevators of a city destined to be- 
come the greatest grain mart of the world, distant but 200 to 350 miles 
from the wheat fields of Dakota, and when our surplus grain will be 
shipped to the seaboard at less than the present cost of transportation to 
Chicago. 

The president of one of the leading railway corporations of the United 
States, recently uttered the following prediction: "It wftl not be long 
until points in Dakota, within 500 miles of Duluth, will be sending wheat 
from their stations to Buffalo for 15 cents per bushel." 

This means that wheat raised on Dakota soil at a cost of from 23 to 36 
cents per bushel, with an investment of $5.90 per acre, will bring in the 
local market, (when freights to the seaboard are lowered to this extent) , 
almost the same price that the Eastern farmer receives for his, raised at 
double the cost of production and on land representing ten times the capi- 
tal invested. 

The following table shows the wheat crop of the world in 1880: 



Countries 



Bushels. 



America: 

United States 457,218,000 

Canada | 37,219,234 

Argentine Republic and Chili 28,800,625 

Europe: 

Austria-Hungary \ 143,001,488 

Belgium 1 18,514,688 

Denmark 4,731,531 

France I 299,107,620 

Germany j 82,000,000 

Great Britain and Ireland' I 65,285,353 

Greece 4,937,250 

Italy I 129,412,133 

Netherlands ! 4,937,250 

Portugal 8,228,750 

Roumania ! 22,629,063 

Russia ! 213,907,084 

Servia j 4,525,813 

Spain 131,660,000 

Sweden and Norway ! 2,468,625 

Switzerland ...i 1,645,750 

Turkey ,.. 41,143,750 

Australasia j 22,258,146 

India ■. I 258,317,632 

Egypt | 16,457,500 

Algeria ; ! 32,915,000 



Total 12,031,322,285 



Dakota's wheat crop, just harvested, is greater than the whole yield in 
1886, of Turkey in Europe ; nearly double the product in 1886 of either 
Canada or Algeria; more than twice the total annual yield of the Argen- 
tine Republic and Chili combined, or of either Roumania or Australasia, 
and three times the amount raised last year in either Belgium or Egypt. 
The entire 1886 wheat crop of the following countries, viz.: Denmark, 



♦RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 91 

Greece, The Netherlands, Portugal, Servia, Switzerland, and Sweden and 
Norway, when added together, makes but one-half the yield of Dakota 
in 1887. Indeed, the statements received by this office — and they are 
vouched for as being trustworthy and reliable- — prove that our wheat crop 
this season is less than 3,000,000 bushels below the whole product of Great 
Britain and Ireland, as last recorded. 

The official record of imports of wheat into the United Kingdom for 
the first half of the present year, (1887) , shows a large increase in the pro- 
portion furnished by the United States, 68 per cent, against 54 per cent. 
in the first six months of 1886 and 1885. Counting flour as wheat, the pro- 
portion is 73.5 per cent, against 60.8 in a similar period of 1886, and 60.6 in 
1885. Analyzing the table, there is found a great reduction in receipts 
from Russia, a decrease from India of 20 per cent, as compared with the 
first half of last year, and a decrease from Australia. 

The quantities of wheat imported from January to June, inclusive, with 
value and average price, expressed in the measures of this country, are 
as follows: 



Countries. 


Bushels. 


Dollars. 


Russia 


2,782,608 
1,113,629 
32,718,276 
1,063,011 
6,725,790 
3,650,170 


2,847,311 
1,226,154 
34,870,614 
1,101,367 
6,670,429 
3,726,848 


Germany 


United Statas 


Chili 


India 


Other countries 




Total 


48,053,484 


50,442,723 



Value per 
bushel. 



$ 1 02 


1 10 


1 07 


1 04 


99 


1 02 



1 05 



The value of wheat from this country is eight cents per bushel more 
than that from India, and five cents more than Russian wheat. It is 
higher than that of any non-European country, and yet the quantity fur- 
nished is twice as much as that supplied by all other countries. 

Of the imports of flour as wheat Austria furnishes a small quantity, and 
Germany still less, while the receipts from the United States constitute 
86 per cent, of the importation. 

***'■-*.'***'* 

The present indications point to a more than average European crop. 
It was late nearly everywhere, perhaps two weeks on an average at the be- 
ginning of June, but in growing condition, and its advancement since has 
been rapid. The Russian and Austrian crops especially are of fine 
promise. That of Spain is mediocre. In Germany, France, and England, 
reports are generally favorable. 

The India crop, harvested a few months ago, will be 20,000,000 bushels 
less than the preceding, say 238,000,000 bushels. Australasia will probably 
produce 15,000,000 bushels more than in 1885-'86, or 37,000,000 bushels. 
The product of the world promises to be quite as much as for each of the 
two preceding harvests. A close calculation cannot be made while so 



92 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



much uncertainty exists as to the harvest test of present prospects in cer- 
tain countries. Present indications do not promise material increase in 
prices; they certainly do not demand lower prices. 

The demand from Europe should be less than usual, if crops of Western 
Europe are as good as reported, though stocks are low; but if prices con- 
tinue low as at present, their replenishment must increase the sum of 
purchases. It appears that America is still in advance in the competition, 
furnishing bread to the world at lowest rates with ease and cheerfulness, 
and probably will have wheat to sell should prices run materially lower. 
It would be better, however, to sell less wheat abroad, and supply the de- 
ficiency in barley now obtained by importation, or produce other crops 
for home consumption at better profits. * 

The rapid development of the agricultural and other resources of Dakota 
in so short a period is fairly represented by the following comparative 
table showing (from official sources,) the wheat crop of the Territory in 
1860, 1870, 1880, 1885 and 1887. 

WHEAT CROP. 

Bushels. 



1860 


1 


945 


1870 


■Hi 


170.662 


1880 




| 2,830,289 


1885 




B£S 38,166,413 


1887 ||§ 




£H^2,553,499 



* Report of the Statistician, Department of Agriculture, Washington, August, 1887. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 93 



CORN. 

Dakota's leading interest must always be that of the farmer's. 

The great extent of magnificent soil, of cheap lands easily tilled, and 
yielding a bountiful return for the husbandman's efforts, is rapidly crowd- 
ing the Territory toward her eventual position as the garden spot of the 
Nation; the depot for the food supplies of the Union. But in this agri- 
cultural country, to bring about the full measure of success, there must be 
an encouragement of the farmers to diverstfy their productions. "Man 
cannot live on bread alone," — neither will the farmer be the most success- 
ful who confines his operations in the one direction of raising wheat. 
The experiment was tried in the settlement of Illinois, of Wisconsin, of 
Minnesota, of Kansas, and Nebraska, and the failures marking the at- 
tempts to grow wheat exclusively there was a lesson the Dakotaian has 
wisely heeded. 

The homesteader or preemptor, as a general rule, begins operations on 
his new home with a very limited capital: — the cost of breaking the land, 
of erecting buildings, and the purchase of farm implements must be met 
by the immediate sale of his yearly productions, and no crop is so readily 
changed into cash as wheat. As a result the new comers to Dakota were, 
perforce, wheat-growers. But now that the farm has been developed, and 
the heavy expenditures of the first years are lessened' — he is investing 
every dollar of his surplus earnings in cattle, horses, sheep and hogs, and 
in dairying and cheese making. 

The corn market is seldom or never overstocked. 

In the cultivation of this farm product there is little or no competition 
of other countries, and if the price is unsatisfactory the former is never 
at a loss to find profitable and varied uses for his surplus at home. Of 
corn and other feed for farm animals only a small portion of the crop 
comes within reach of the speculator, whereas, with wheat, nearly every 
bushel is 'shipped from the farm, and, as an official of the Government 
says, "is a prey to speculation every step of the way from the first coun- 
try market to the consumer's larder 1,000 to 5,000 miles distant, running a 
long gauntlet of forwarders, carriers, commission and elevator men, and 
buyers on speculation, whose charges all come out of the price fixed by 
the world's competition, leaving to the grower whatever remainder the 
rapacity of this army of distribution may have been unable to confiscate." 



04 



RESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 



TABLE SHOWING THE CORN CROP OF DAKOTA IN 1886 
In comparison with each state and territory of the Union. 



Rank, States. 




Bushels. 


45 NEVADA, 


1 


92,000 


44 MONTANA, 


1 


22,000 


43 IDAHO, 


1 


42,000 


42 ARIZONA, 


I 


67,000 


41 WASHINGTON TER., 


■ 


88,000 


40 OREGON, 


EH 


178,000 


39 UTAH, 


■ 


2J7.000 



RHODE ISLAND, 



COLORADO, 



NEW MEXICO, 



MAINE, 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



MASSACHUSETTS, 



CONNECTICUT, 




VERMONT, 



NORTH CAROLINA, 



MICHIGAN, 



WISCONSIN. 



ALABAMA, 



GEORGIA. 




IOWA, 



438,000 



938,000 

973,000 

989,000 

1,364,000 



1.922,000 



1,992.000 



2.058.000 



30 DELAWARE, WB^Sl 


BB 3,590,000 


29 CALIFORNIA, Ifflfffilllfffl 


MB 4,262,000 


28 FLORIDA, BSjgSIl 


B 4,597,000 


27 NEW JERSEY, KBWWWWWWfl 


IB 9,418,000 


26 SOUTH CAROLINA. 


IS 13,318,000 


25 LOUISIANA, 


SB 14.010.000 


24 MARYLAND, ffi^PI^P^ 


Hill 15.039.000 


23 WEST VIRGINIA. 


g|BH 15.194.000 


22 DAKOTA, m&AM&mt 


BB 15,305,000 


21 MINNESOTA. EffgjflMTjffHi 


mSi 19.905.000 


20 NEW YORK. BHBSH 


BB 22.426,000 


19 MISSISSIPPI. 


gBI 25.507.000 



27,215,000 



27,635,000 



28,493,000 



28,893,000 



31,197,000 



13 VIRGINIA, 


IWirn 32,793,000 


12 PENNSYLVANIA, 


— 40,545,000 


11 ARKANSAS. 


B 42,140,000 


10 TEXAS, HM— WBBH 


HB 69,213,000 


9 TENNESSEE, 


B 73,314,000 


S KENTUCKY jjB SS^BB 


B 88,758,000 


7 OHIO, 


B 96,204,000 



106,129,000 




1 ILLINOIS, 



198,847,000 
209,818,000 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 95 

The rich and distinctive soil of the Red River valley, especially en- 
dowed by nature for the production of wheat, the equal of which is not 
grown elsewhere in the world ; with never a disastrous failure marking its 
history of phenomenal yields; with its special farm tools, large areas, and 
systematic culture, whereby the cost of production is lowered beyond 
fear of competition, — must and will continue in the future, as in the past, 
to grow a third of the entire wheat crop of the Territory. Farmers there 
have grown rich by confining their operations solely to the growing of 
wheat, and the advantages of its particular soil are such that the Red 
River valley must always maintain its present prestige of raising the best 
and cheapest wheat known to the markets of the world. But the farmers 
elsewhere in Dakota have learned that there is not the profit in growing 
wheat exclusively — even though the yield should be ever so heavy, and 
the quality unexcelled, — as accrues from a diversity of products, the rais- 
ing of corn, oats and grass, — crops which can be marketed at home, in the 
way of meat, butter, cheese, etc. 

Wheat will always be a part of the farmer's crop in every section of the 
Territory, and an extremely profitable one, too, when by a rotation of 
uses the soil is made to yield him a better, surer and larger return than 
even now, and when his live stock interests shall relieve him from the 
necessity of crowding his wheat crop on the low markets of the early fall. 

There can be no more certain and positive indication of the success and 
wealth in store for the farmers of Dakota, than is displayed by the pro- 
gress of the past three years toward a diversity of crops. 

It is with a marked degree of satisfaction those, who are interested in 
Dakota's welfare, observe the increased area sown from year to year in 
corn, oats, barley, and the tame grasses. It means that the Dakota farmer 
has profited by the failures recorded in the early history of all the West- 
ern states, and is too wise and intelligent to place his dependence on the 
yield of a single cereal. It means that he has become a stock-raiser as 
well as a tiller of the soil. 

A studv of the tables in another part of this publication, exhibiting the 
rapid increase each year of the numbers and value of the farm animals in 
the Territory, in connection with the enlargement of the area planted to 
corn and other stock supplies, is a convincing proof that the tillers of the 
soil in Dakota are following in the footsteps of the successful farmer of 
Iowa and Illinois, and have adopted the plan of mixed farming and of 
diversifying farm products. 

The encouragement and growth in the future of an investment in hogs, 
cows, sheep and horses, that must follow as a natural result of the ven- 
tures of those who have already demonstrated its value, have made doubly 
certain the success which will always attend the efforts of the farmer in 
Dakota. The time is remembered when Dakota was considered as lying 
outside of the corn belt, and the same was thought to be true as regards 
the adaptability of the soil and climate for the raising of wheat; but, as 
the supposition that wheat could not be grown on Dakota soil has been 



96 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

demonstrated to be without foundation, just so is experience teaching the 
world that the corn area of the Northwest extends far beyond the bound- 
ary, to which it w T as confined a few years ago. 

With a soil beyond comparison and a climate akin to that of the great 
corn growing states of the West, the wonder is that the question of rais- 
ing corn in Dakota should ever have been clouded with a doubt. 

Fortunately many of the thrifty and enterprising farmers, who have 
made new homes in Dakota, were stock-raisers in the states from which 
they came, and had learned the value, to the farmer, of connecting stock 
interests with a diversity of crops. They soon demonstrated that Dakota's 
soil and climate would not only raise the finest wheat in the world, but 
was also equally as well adapted for the cultivation of corn. 

We have seen the corn area extended from the few counties in the ex- 
treme southeast, until to-day, the acreage planted in Dakota will almost 
equal that planted to corn in one-half the states of the Union. Corn is 
now a leading crop with the farmers of every county in the southern and 
central portion of the Territory, of the Black Hills, and is raised in con- 
siderable quantities even in the counties of the north, especially in the 
counties bordering on the Missouri river. 

Each year witnesses the widening of the corn belt in Dakota, and the 
gradual conversion of the farmers of the most northerly localities to the 
belief, because of actual results, that corn can be grown anywhere in the 
Territory. 

The extraordinarv increase of the corn acreage and product will be bet- 
ter understood by a study of the following exhibit: 

CORN CROP. 

Bushels. 



1860 


1 


20,269 


1870 


SB 


133,140 


1880 


Hmm 


2,000,864 


188.1 




■ 7,800,593 


18=7 ■ 




■■24,511,726 



The yield of corn for 1887, as stated above, is the report of several hun- 
dred correspondents, including farmers, merchants, and other leading 
citizens, representing every county of the Territory. 

The acreage and yield was obtained by counties, and for^each an aver- 
age was taken of several different estimates covering the same locality. 

Whenever it could be done the crop statistics were compared with the 
assessors' returns for the year. 

The result of these compilations shows an area planted in corn, in 18S7, 
of 608,807 acres, yielding a crop of 24,511,726 bushels, or an average yield 
for the Territory of forty bushels to the acre. 

The estimates in the past of the Department of Agriculture regarding 
the crops of the Territory cannot be relied upon for accuracy. We have 
shown that the Commissioner, in his report for 1886, gave the area sown 
to wheat in Dakota below what it actually was; but with corn, his figures, 
are altogether too high. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 97 

From careful estimates, verified in every instance by reliable and intel- 
ligent citizens of each county it is learned that the area in corn in Dakota 
in 1886 was 400,640 acres, or, about 262,000 acres less than was published 
by the Commissioner of Agriculture. 

In the three years from 1884, the corn crop of Dakota has more than 
trebled in quantity, with the certainty of constantly increasing, in the 
future, this established ratio of progress. 

Dakota in 1887 raised more corn than the entire product in 1886 of 
either the state of New York, Minnesota, Maryland, South Carolina, New 
Jersey, Louisiana, West Virginia, California, or seventeen other of the 
states and territories. 

The crop was planted in good season under extremely favorable cir- 
cumstances and had the advantage throughout the growing months, 
of weather especially suited for the growing of maize. The ears are un- 
usually large, filled out to the very tips and, as regards quality, cannot 
be excelled by the corn growing in any state in the Union. 

The entire crop has matured without the slightest damage from frost or 
the ravages of insects and is declared by the farmers everywhere, — of the 
Black Hills, of the south and central sections of the Territory and of coun- 
ties in the very north to have furnished a better general average of con- 
dition, of yield and of profit, than was ever before realized from any farm 
product, of an equal investment. 

Of the quality of the corn raised in Dakota, the same is true as has been 
said of the quality of our wheat. It is extremely rich in albuminoids and 
nitrogen (the nourishing properties) and in this respect is above the 
average of corn grown in the states, and the general average of the com- 
position of American corn. 

The following table is copied from page 87, report of U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, 1884, and is the result of an analysis by the chemist of the 
Department of 290 different specimens of corn: 

AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF AMERICAN CORN. 



Locality 



Dakota , 

New York 

Illinois 

Minnesota 

Nebraska 

Colorado 

California 

America, 1883 



Albuminoids. Nitrogen. 



10.75 


1.72 


10.54 


1.69 


10.06 


1.61 


10.07 


1.61 


10.47 


1.68 


9.89 


1.58 


10.26 


1.64 


10.31 


1.65 



There seem to be in Dakota, the right composition of soil and the 
proper tempering of the climate necessary to grow farm products of ex- 
treme richness. 

Mr. Clifford Richardson, chemist of the U. S. Department of Agricul- 
ture, report for 1885, says that the result of several years of scientific and 

(4) 



98 KESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 

chemical study leads to the conclusion that the yield of corn in the South 
is far inferior to that of the North, that a warm climate and a long period 
of growth, while producing a large kernel, tends to give a gross plant with 
but few ears and that while the size of the kernel of corn grown in the 
South is twice as large as that grown in the North — the yield per acre 
is less. 

Prof. Witcher, of the New Hampshire State College, asserts that fifteen 
tons of fodder of Northern varieties, will equal twenty -five tons of the 
Southern varieties of field corn, in nutriment. 

Corn planted on freshly broken sod invariably yields a fair crop, with- 
out cultivation. Sod corn is usually planted by dropping the seed in the 
furrow when breaking, and covering by turning the next furrow over it, 
or, with a sod hand planter between the furrows, after the breaking is 
finished. Sod planted in this way frequently produces twenty-five to 
thirty bushels of good corn to the acre. 

Corn on old ground is planted during the months of April and May, is 
never hoed, but is cultivated several times during the season with a sulky 
cultivator. 

The dent or flint varieties are found to do the best, and yields of from 
sixty to one hundred bushels to the acre have been reported. 

In many of the older counties corn is the chief farm product, fields of 
which, hundreds of acres in extent, are seen on every hand, and reports 
of yields, this season, of as'high as 100 bushels to the acre are common. 

With corn an assured crop, the raising of hogs has become an important 
and profitable branch of farming in Dakota. Alrtady several of the 
large cities have extensive pork-packing establishments in operation, and 
another season will see a large increase in the number of these institu- 
tions. 



If one-third of the land in Dakota, (33,000,000 acres) was sown to wheat 
and raised fourteen bushels to the acre, it would result in a crop of 4G2,- 
000,000 bushels, — or more than the entire yield of the United States 
for 1886. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 99 



FLAX. 



The culture of flax iu Dakota is barely in its infancy as compared with 
the interest that will be devoted to this crop in the future — when capital 
shall have built up within the Territory, manufactories to utilize the seed 
and the fibre. At present, owing to a lack of such industries, it is grown 
principally for the seed, and the fibre or straw is burned or wasted. 

Flax and sod corn are usually the first crops raised on new land. They 
can be sown on the freshly turned sod with a reasonable assurance of a 
good yield under any circumstances. Flax is one of the best subduers 
that can be grown on the sod, and places the ground in excellent condi- 
tion for working the next season, for any kind of a crop. 

Planted in this way it yields, ordinarily, from seven to fifteen bushels 
per acre, and in many instances, a single crop has paid for the land, in ad- 
dition to the cost of breaking and planting. 

Flax does exceedingly well on old ground, and one great advantage of 
the crop is that it can be put in late in the season — as late as the latter 
part of June — after the crowding work of the spring is out of the way. 

The culture of flax, to any extent, is confined to the district south of 
the Northern Pacific railway, and the larger crops are reported from the 
counties of the southern and central portions of the Territory. Even 
there, it seems to be confined to distinct localities; farmers in some com- 
munities running almost entirely to flax, while in others they show a de- 
cided aversion to having anything to do wuth it. 

The flax crop of the Territory in 1879, amounted to 26,757 bushels; in 
1884, to 2,282,788 bushels; in 1885, to 2,916,983 bushels, and in 1886 to 
3,844,323 bushels. 

From careful estimates based on a large number of reports, represent- 
ing every county, the acreage sown to flax in the Territory this season was 
412,741 acres, and the yield amounted to 3,910,944 bushels, or an average 
yield of over nine bushels to the acre. 

Efforts are being put forth by many cities within the flax area, to build 
up flax mills, paper and cordage manufactories — efforts which are bound 
to succeed sooner or later, because of the great profit that would ensue to 
the farmer in raising the crop, could he find a market at home for the seed 
and straw, and because of the success awaiting the manufacturer, who 
will fill the demand already existing in the Territory for such products as 



100 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

are manufactured from, flax seed and flax straw. For the immense quan- 
tities of linseed oil, paints, oil-cake, straw-paper, cloth, twine, (especially 
that which is used for saving the wheat crop,) and other articles manufac- 
tured from flax, annually consumed in Dakota, we now pay a tribute to 
farmers and manufacturers abroad, which is justly due the people of our 
Territory. The introduction of flax mills will add a new source of wealth 
to Dakota, and furnish a wonderful impetus to the growing, by our farmers, 
of one of the most profitable crops. 

As has been said, flax is grown in Dakota solely, we might say, for the 
seed, while in Ireland, the plant is raised for the fibre, from which the 
famous Irish linen and other fabrics are made. Our method of threshing 
breaks up the fibre and renders it useless. 

This office has received a letter from San Francisco, describing a ma- 
chine, the use of which for threshing flax will not only secure the seed 
but also save the straw uninjured, a matter it would be well for our flax 
growers to consider. The manufacturer says that in his machine " the 
bundle of flax is dropped in the thresher where it is stripped of its seed 
bolls, the seed delivered clean in sacks, and the sheaf conveyed from the 
machine with the straw uninjured, and in condition to be used for textile 
purposes." It is to be hoped that some of our enterprising citizens will 
investigate the adaptability of the new machine to saving the fibre of the 
flax cron of Dakota, and thus render valuable a product which is now dis- 
carded by the farmers. 

The raising of flax has caused the building of numerous oil mills in the 
states of Minnesota and Iowa, — there being a dozen or more in Iowa 
alone. One of the largest oil mills in the United States, is located at Sioux 
City, and is supplied, to a great extent, with flax grown in-southeastern 
Dakota. It finds a ready market for all the oil and oil-cake it can make — 
the sales of its product being limited only by the capacity of the mill. 

The carrying out of the plans already undertaken for the building of a 
number of mills and manufactories in various parts of the Territory, will 
insure a home consumption of the farmers' crop of flax. 

Tow-mills haTe been established at the following points, viz. : Scotland, 
Brookings, Madison, Wentworth, Canton, Egan, and Vilas. The past 
season has been a profitable one for the manufacturers of flax-tow, and 
the few tow-mills now in operation have met with great success. 

The price of straw ran so high as four dollars per ton — with a great scarcity 
at that price. Some of the mills were compelled to shut down early 
because of the exhaustion of the supply of straw in their vicinity. 

The establishments for the manufacture of tow will be more than doubled 
before the close of another year. 

It is claimed that this soil gives the fibre of the flax a superiority over 
that raised in other sections. 

Yankton has a linseed oil mill, and another is talked of at Scotland, Bon 
Homme county. 

A paint manufactory is in operation at AVatertown, Codington county. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



101 



OATS, RYE, BARLEY, .AND BUCKWHEAT. 



These grains are cultivated throughout the Territory with great success, 
and attain a size and solidity of berry elsewhere unknown. The adapta- 
tion of the soil and climate to the growing of these, as of all cereals, is 
manifested in the perfection of the grain and the large yield of the crops. 

This is especially true of oats, which returns a yield ranging from sixty 
to ninety bushels, weighing from forty to forty-four pounds. This office 
has a report, in one instance, of the extraordinary yield of 115 bushels to 
the acre. 

Rye returns a good yield, averaging from thirty-five to fifty bushels per 
acre, and weighing fifty-six to sixty-two pounds to the bushel. The berry 
is unusually hard, full and heavy. 

RYE CROP. 







Bushels. 


I860 


1 


70,) 


1880 


BHSi 


24,359 


i8S5 m 




US 196.750 



1887 ^■■BHBH^HBBgHl 316,586 
Barley yields from thirty-eight to forty-eight bushels to the acre, weigh- 
ing from forty-five to fifty-four pounds to the bushel. 

BARLEY CROP. 







Bushels. 


I860 







1870 


1 


4,118 


J 880 


n 


277,424 


no oo 
/. oo 

1. 




■ 2,170,0.i9 



The following tables exhibit the yield of oats and buckwheat for a num- 
ber of years: 

OATS CROP. 







Bushels. 


I860 


1 


2.540 


18,0 


H9B 


114,327 


ISM) 




■ 2,217,132 


1885 ■ 




m 22,970,098 



102 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 
BUCKWHEAT CROP. 







Bushels. 


I860 


1 


115 


1870 


■ 


179 


1880 


^■H 


2,521 


1885 




IS 51,466 



97,230 

The acreage and yield of these crops, for the season of 1887, is ascer- 
tained from assessors' reports and other sources, to have been'as follows: 



Acres. Bushels. 



Oats 

Rye... 

Barley 

Buckwheat 



1,172,289 43,267,478 

17,559 316,586 

235,155 6,400,568 

5,749 97,230 



Do not hesitate to write to this office for an answer to any question you 
may desire to ask about Dakota. If the pamphlets mailed you do not 
contain a reply to all your inquiries, or, if you are still in doubt about the 
climate, the productiveness of the soil, the rainfall, the vacant lands, or 
anything else upon which hinges your move Westward, write to the Com- 
missioner of Immigration, Pierre, Dakota, and your letter will be cheer- 
fully answered. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



103 



TABLE SHOWING THE OATS CROP OF DAKOTA IN 1886, 
Iu comparison with each statu and territory of the Union. 



Rank. istaiLi. 

45 WYOMING, 

44 RHODE ISLAND, 

4:> NEVADA. 



42 LOUISIANA, 



86,000 



184,000 



250,000 



361,000 



41 

4C[ 

39_ 

3JT 

37 

36~ 

35^ 

34_ 

3Y 

32 

3~f 

oO 

29~ 
38~ 

2b 
25_ 
34_ 
23 



FLORIDA. 



DELAWARE, 



NEW MEXICO, 



MASSACHUSETTS, 

UTAH. 

IDAHO, 

NEW HAMPSH1 



CONNECTICUT, 
COLORADO, 
MONTANA, 
CALIFORNIA. 

MARYLAND, 
MAINE. 



WEST VIRGINIA, 
WASHINGTON TER.. 
MISSISSIPPI, 
SOUTH CAROL! 



NEW JERSEY 
VERMONT, 
A LA ISAM A 
ARKANSA! 



489,000 



492,000 



528,000 



738,000 
858,000 

1,078, 0^0 
1,081.000 
1,123,000 




1,591,000 
1,987,000 
3,317,000 
2,470,000 
2,701*000 



2,803.000 



3, 126, 000 





4,749.000 



5,102,000 

5,301,000 

6,276,000 

7.9:39.000 

s. 577, 000 

10,219.000 

11,369,000 

18,521.000 

20,651,000 

21,865,000 

25,516,090 

30,577,000 

31,798.000 

317850,000 

37,759. 000 

656, 000 

40 223.000 

40,735,000 

-.S 454 000 

1 03,649 000 



104 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



VEGETABLES. 



The quality and quantity of the yield of vegetables of all kinds, grown 
in Dakota, cannot be excelled in any portion of the United States. Pota- 
toes grow very large in size, a single potato sometimes weighing as much 
as six pounds, are uniformally sound, very mealy and conceded to equal 
those grown in Colorado or any of the states of the Union. They yield 
from 150 to 500 bushels per acre. 

Onions are a prolific and sure crop, growing to an enormous size, and 
yield from 400 to 800 bushels per acre. 

Turnips, peas, beets, beans, parsnips, carrots, squash, Cabbage, cauli- 
flower, egg-plant, lettuce, radishes, melons, and all the field and garden 
vegetables are raised without more than the usual effort. All kinds of 
root-crops do well on sod, especially turnips and rutabagas. 

Turnips are usually sown in May or June ; rutabagas may be sown as 
late as July and will produce a good crop. 

For stock the mangel-wurzel is a very profitable root crop, is an enor- 
mous yielder and can be raised as easily as rutabagas. 

There never has been a season in Dakota when the crop of vegetables 
surpassed in yield or quality the growth of this year (1887). Potatoes,, 
cabbage, beets, squash, turnips, in fact everything in the vegetable line,, 
have yielded in a manner to surprise even those accustomed to the re- 
markable, from this prolific soil. Visitors to the annual Territorial Fairs 
at Grand Forks and Mitchell were astonished, more perhaps, at the dis- 
play of mammoth vegetables, than at any other exhibit. Here one found 
cabbage, each head of which weighed from thirty to forty pounds; squash, 
as large as giant pumpkins, and these latter (numpkins) weighing over 
200 pounds ; potatoes, a half dozen of which would fill a half-bushel meas- 
ure; beets six inches in diameter and three feet and more in length and 
so on through the list. 

The potato crop of this season is one of the best ever gathered. The yield 
is large and the quality unexcelled. For the first time almost in the 
history of the Territory there will be a very large surplus for exportation 



KESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 1C5 

— and car-load shipments are now being made where, before, the crop 
has been insufficient for home demand. 

POTATO CROP. 

Bus/u'/s. 



18(50 | 9,489 

1870 m J 50,177 

18S0_^ HBpHi 664,086 

1885 W B m m ^^ SSImsaBsmsB 3,868,860 

The figures for 1886 and 1887, if available, would show the same aston- 
ishing ratio of an increased product for the past two seasons as occurred be- 
tween the years of 1880 and 1885, the potato crop of 1885 being nearly six 
times larger than that of 1880; but a complete record of the crop statistics 
of the Territory for 1886 and 1887 is not obtainable, as much as the fact 
is to be regretted. 

The United States census returns for the years 1860, 1870 and 1880 fur- 
nish reliable information regarding the crops of the Territory for the 
seasons preceding those dates, and a census of Dakota taken in 1885, with 
all the safeguards against fraud which any Federal census possesses, shows 
the yield of the different crops for 1884. For the leading cereals, such as 
corn, wheat, oats, etc., the annual reports of the Department of Agricul- 
ture, Washington, have been taken as giving the only attainable estimates 
for the years since the Territorial census of 1885. 

The crop estimates for 1887, where given, are compiled from several 
hundred reports of farmers, merchants and reliable citizens, represent- 
ing each county of the Territory. The acreage and yield were reported 
by counties, there being several estimates in each instance for the same 
county, and the figures adopted by this office were obtained by striking 
an average of these different reports. This result was still further veri- 
fied by a comparison with the assessors' returns for the year — wherever 
they had been furnished. It is believed that the estimates of the acre- 
age and yield of the crops of 1887, as published in the preceding pages, 
are reliable and accurate. 

The comparative statements of the preceding pages, showing the enor- 
mous increase in the yield and value of the farm products of Dakota, 
during the short period of her settlement, are extremely interesting, and 
a most convincing proof of her certain supremacy among the agricultural 
districts of the Nation. 



106 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



HOPS. 

Hops of a superior quality grow wild along the James and Missouri 
rivers and on the low lands of the Black Hills, and yield a large and regu- 
lar crop. 

Prof. Walter P. Jenney, (U. S. geological survey, Black Hills,) in speak- 
ing of the fertility of the soil, says: " Wild hops attain a rank and luxu- 
riant growth in the bottom lands along the streams, and the soil and cli- 
mate seem to be remarkably well suited to the growth of this plant." 

There is certainly no reason why the growing of hops should not be- 
come an important industry in Dakota. 

The territory of the United States where hops are successfully grown, 
is very limited. A district in New York, for a radius of about forty miles, 
with Cooperstown, Otsego county, as its center, forms more than one- 
half of such territory, east of the Rockies; the only other places being 
three of the northwestern counties of New York, small portions of Ver- 
mont and Michigan, and parts of Wisconsin. 

On the Pacific coast the production of hops has increased from 15,000 
bales, in 1880, to 70,000 bales in 1881. 

The fact of hops of good quality growing wild along the streams of Da- 
kota, is an assurance that the climate and soil are peculiarly fitted for the 
production of this valuable crop. This, together with the knowledge of 
the fortunes made by the hop-growers of the East, should be sufficient 
inducement for our farmers to give their attention to the subject. 



The entire population of the United States, sixty million people, could 
be settled in Dakota and have an acre and a half of ground apiece for 
elbow room. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 107 



TIMOTHY, ALFALFA, BLUE-GRASS, ETC. 



The native grasses of Dakota are yet abundant and nutritious, and the 
mass of farmers depend almost entirely on prairie hay for forage for stock. 
But the time may come when the supply of wild hay will prove insuffi- 
cient, and it is well to inquire whether the tame grasses can be grown on 
Dakota soil. 

Dr. C. E. Bessey, of the University of Nebraska, in a recent communi- 
cation to the Prairie Farmer, furnishes pome interesting remarks in regard 
to the cultivation on the Western plains, of clover, timothy, alfalfa and 
other forage plants. He says: 

"Not only on the prairies, but away up the great slope of the plains, 
are the old grasses and clovers grown, and grown with great success and 
profit. Away up under the 100th meridian, timothy is now grown with 
excellent success. No one need question whether timothy is adaDted to 
the plains. Upon the lower plains it will grow to as great a size as upon 
the meadows of the Eastern farms. Upon the prairies wherever the soil 
is moist, red-top may be successfully grown. 

" There is no doubt that upon the low lands bordering the principal 
streams, red-top will be extensively cultivated. 

" Contrary to the expectations of many a farmer from the East, expe- 
rience has shown the grass to be an excellent one for pasture in the coun- 
try west of the Mississippi river. Of course, no one should depend upon 
it for hay; no one should ask it to bring him a hay crop. Blue-grass is 
eminently a pasture grass, and for this, when in its perfection, it stands 
unrivaled. 

" Originally it was taken for granted that red clover would not do well 
upon the soil of the plains, and few trials to grow T it w r ere ever made. The 
experience of those who were bold enough to make a trial, has shown 
that red clover is as much at home upon the plains as upon any of the 
Eastern soils. There can no longer be any doubt as to the adaptability of 
red clover to the soil and climate of the plains. White clover, while not 
extensively sown purposely, is appearing in many parts of the region 
west of the Mississippi river, and even beyond the Missouri river. It 



108 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

appears to do fully as well upon the soil of the plains, and without doubt, 
it will eventually be found throughout the whole of the great plain region." 
Timothy is grown by many farmers of the Territory, and universally 
with success. A farmer says of his experience in growing timothy on Da- 
kota soil: 

" In the spring of 1884, I sowed about an acre of timothy on sod-break- 
ing, with wheat, sowing about twelve quarts of seed just before harrow- 
ing the last time. The grass came up that season and made a good growth , 
with the wheat. The season of 1885, the timothy grew to a good height, 
and I cut it with the binder and threshed it for seed. The season of 1886 
was very dry, as all know, and I supposed my timothy was killed, but not 
so; this spring (1887), it was growing nicely. This was sown on ground 
that was never backset and has passed through the dryest season we have 
had. If timothy will stand such a test with the chance this has had, 
there is certainly no doubt of its doing well in Dakota wherever planted." 

Alfalfa is one of the most valuable of the forage plants and produces 
enormous crops. It has not been cultivated to any extent on the prairies 
and plains, excepting in California and those parts of the West contiguous 
to the Rocky mountains. It is a clover particularly well adapted to the 
soil and climate of Dakota, and a forage upon which hogs and stock will 
grow and put on flesh all summer, without grain. The plant sends out a 
long tap-root, striking deep into the soil in search of moisture. Dry 
weather in nowise affects its growth, and once firmly rooted it is impossi- 
ble for a drouth to kill this grass. 

A farmer in Brule county, Dakota, says he has tried planting alfalfa on 
Dakota soil and that it grows beyond all expectations. He reports hav- 
ing plucked on the 15th of April this season, a sprig of alfalfa with twenty- 
five full, unfolded leaves and five inches high. 

" For an experiment," says a Richland county stock-grower, " I had an 
acre put down to alfalfa last year, seed put in the ground on the 15th of 
June, was cut twice and grazed down closely just before freezing up. The 
location is an exposed one, and the soil light and sandy; it has taken all 
of last season's and this spring's wind, and some of the young shoots this 
spring were buried fully six inches in sand. It could not have been given 
a harder test, even by taking especial pains to kill it out, and we have 
about one-half acre of it, of as rank, rich growth as could be wished 
for; the other half is thin and scattering, but may yet come forward in 
good shape, for, once well-rooted, I find it hard to kill. I intend giving it 
a second trial this season, and will put in about five acres more. We feel 
quite confident that we can grow it surely and profitably, on our sandy 
soil, and in doing so remove other obstacles in the way of cheap cattle 
production, i. e., the want of early and late green feed." 

A farmer of Pennington county, in the Black Hills, states that he has 
experimented, in a small way, with the growing of alfalfa, and with the 
most satisfactory results. The alfalfa has been cut four times during 
the season, yielding at the rate of eight tons of hay to the acre. 






RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 109; 

Blue-grass lawns are quite common in the counties of sufficient age to 
have steadied down into efforts other than breaking the sod and the usual 
work attending the building up of a new country. 

There is not the least doubt that blue-grass will grow anywhere in 
Dakota, by exerting the care and attention required elsewhere to intro- 
duce this beautiful lawn grass; in fact, it may be said to grow with less 
effort, for ever since the year that General Custer camped at Yankton, in 
1873, there has been a heavy growth of blue-grass on the old camp-ground. 
A great many of the Yankton people remove the sod and transplant it to 
their yards, where it thrives admirably. It is supposed Custer's com- 
mand carried baled blue-grass for forage, and the seed scattered in feed- 
ing the horses took root, and each year since, more seed has scattered, 
thus keeping up the supply. 

At Yankton, Elk Point, Sioux Falls, Fargo, Grand Forks and other 
cities of several years' growth, pretty lawns of rich-colored blue-grass are 
common. 

Hungarian and millet can be grown in Dakota with as little difficulty as 
attends the raising of these hay crops in the East. 

A Codington county farmer, last year, sowed thirty acres with Hunga- 
rian and millet, and raised 510 bushels of millet seed and 170 bushels of 
Hungarian seed. From this crop he sold $200 worth of hay, and fed at 
least thirty tons to his stock. He made more on the millet and Hungar- 
ian seed than on eighty acres of wheat. 

Following is the experience of a farmer in Flyde county with millet: 

" My first experience in Dakota with millet was in '84. Having half a 
bushel of seed, (the common kind,) that I brought from Michigan the 
year before, I concluded to try it on sod. Accordingly, I prepared the 
ground and sowed the seed the 20th of June. It being dry for a time 
afterward the stand was poor. I let it stand until ripe and cut it for seed, 
getting a little over two bushels from the whole. 

" The next year I sowed that seed over four and one-half acres of 
ground that had been plowed twice (beside the breaking). The ground 
was mellow and smooth, and the seed sown with the seeder, by shutting 
it off as tight as possible. In this way it sowed nearly one-half bushel 
very evenly over an acre. The seeder was followed by the planker, which 
left the ground smooth for the mower. 

"A heavy rain, a day or two after sowing, brought it up nicely, but 
three weeks of dry weather afterward stunted it some; but the heavy 
rains that followed through harvest of that year gave it a fine growth. 
This piece yielded twelve large loads of hay, besides fifty-six square rods 
of the piece being saved for seed, and which yielded twelve bushels of 
plump seed. Those twelve loads, with a few bushels of oats, fed the work- 
horses through the fall and kept the same through the winter, until March 
1st, with no grain at all. They have never done better than they did on 
that ration. 



110 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

" It should be cut while in blow, or before, the seed is much more than 
formed, as the ripe seed seems to have a bad effect, if too much is eaten 
at once. It requires considerable time to cure, as it is so green and heavy 
when cut. It will do well if put into large cocks, after being sufficiently 
dried in the winrow, and let stand a few days. 

"It is easily damaged by rain, and should be well put up and well 
stacked. The time for sowing is any time in June, though it may be sown 
earlier or later and do well. It needs warm, moist weather to do its best. 

" From three pecks to a bushel of seed per acre is about right for hay, 
and half a bushel for seed. 

" The German millet is highly recommended as being large and yield- 
ing more than the common kind, but is coarser and needs to be sown very 
thick." 

Many farmers believe millet and Hungarian a more profitable crop than 
timothy. 

NATIVE HAY. 

The prairie hay crop in Dakota is a voluntary contribution of wealth by 
nature almost equaling in value, that of the cultivated farm products. A 
large yield of native hay, of excellent quality can always be depended 
upon. There never has been in the history of the Territory a complete 
disappointment ef the annual profits to the farmer and stock grower, de- 
rived from this crop, although during some seasons, the growth of the 
prairie grasses may be heavier and ranker, and the number of tons of 
hay gathered from an acre of ground, more, than others. This season the 
native hay crop is one of the best ever secured by the farmer and the 
amount in the stack is perhaps double that of the crop of last year. An 
unusual activity was displayed by our farmers in hay-making, because of 
the well known shortage of the crop in neighboring states — and thou- 
sands of tons have been harvested for export. There is a number of 
counties where the wealth flowing in from the sale of wild hay for 
shipment, a crop requiring only the labor of cutting and stacking, will 
bear no mean proportion to the amount received from products necessi- 
tating a season's toil accompanied by all the doubts and uncertainties of 
the farmer's vocation. 

Following is an exhibit of the hay crop (prairie hay) of the Territory 
for four seasons: 

HAY CROP. 

Tons. 
18607" ■ "855 

1870 




1 527,987 

The hay crop of 1887 will exceed 2,500,000 tons. 



KESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. Ill 



SORGHUM— SUGAR BEETS. 



The amount of sugar annually imported, and consumed in the United 
States and the tax paid by our citizens in the way of a protective tariff on 
this commodity is a revelation to those who have never investigated the 
subject. The value of the sugar and molasses imported into America last 
year, was $76,746,461, or, a little less than one-fifth of the entire dutiable 
imports of 18S6; exceeding in value, by almost double that of any other 
protected article of commerce. America paid out for duty on last year's 
imports of sugar and molasses 851,778,948, while the duty on all our im- 
ports of wool, and manufactures of, amounted to only $32,000,000; on 
iron and steel, and manufactures of, §14,600,000, and on silk, but 114,000,000. 

This fact is the more startling when it is known that every dollar of the 
sum annually sent abroad, for the purchase of sugar, which in 1886 
amounted to 876,746,461, and of this indirect tax, making a total of $128,- 
525,409 should be distributed among our farmers and manufacturers at 
home . 

The manufacture of sugar from the sugar beet has for many years been 
a leading industry of France — while in America with millions of acres of 
cheap land especially adapted to the growing of this tuber, farmer and 
manufacturer, both, have given but little attention to so great an oppor- 
tunity for amassiag wealth. Sugar is an article of necessity for which 
there will always be a constant and certain demand. This one article of 
food supply is costing us, in cash paid to other nations and in duty 
charges, a sum equivalent to one-half the value of the entire wheat crop 
of the Union. Here then is an opening for our farmers, for our enter- 
prising citizens, which will insure a return of wealth far exceeding in 
profit that of any industry now engaging their attention. 

There is no crop grown on the soil of Dakota with more certainty of 
prolific yields than vegetables, — especially beets. With proper investiga- 
tion, study and effort, our farmers could be brought to rival those of 
Europe as regards the production of sugar beets, and the entire sugar 
supply of America furnished by the manufactories of Dakota. 

Then there is the sorghum industry. The soil and climate of the Ter- 



112 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

ritory unite in the most favorable of conditions for the raising of sorghum. 
This is not a theoretical statement, but a fact demonstrated by the large 
yields, each season, of cane of a most excellent quality, although the 
area sown has been small and the product utilized — the juice or syrup 
only. 

That sorghum can be profitably employed in the manufacturing of 
sugar there is no longer the least doubt. During the past few years the 
industry has been carried on at two or more points in Kansas, under the 
supervision and control of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
and Commissioner Coleman has recently published an official statement 
declaring in positive terms the success of the undertaking. 

The Commissioner says: "The addition to the agricultural wealth and 
resources of Kansas will be enormous. The establishment of the sugar 
interest in Kansas gives a market value of $2 a ton to sorghum cane, a 
plant that grows in Kansas almost without care and with quite as much 
certainty as grass. At Fort Scott we talked with the cane growers unload- 
ing at the factory. One man had sold from fifteen acres 200 tons of orange 
cane for $400. From eighteen acres he had sold 231 tons of amber cane 
for $462. This was nearly fourteen tons to the acre, but taking twelve 
tons to the acre as the average, and this is $24, or equivalent at the 
average price of corn in Kansas to seventy-two bushels of corn, involv- 
ing twice the labor that is required to raise an acre of sorghum. Any 
farmer can make figures on this basis." 

"To every ton of cane, aside from the sugar in it, there are some ten or 
twelve gallons of molasses, and also the seed raised upon the cane, 
amounting to 25 bushels per acre, which is just as good for feeding all 
kinds of stock as Indian corn." 

This is an industry which should demand the immediate attention of 
the farmers of Dakota. Our soil will produce from twelve to fifteen tons 
of sorghum to the acre, yielding a hundred pounds of sugar to the ton of 
cane, and, used in this w r ay, Commissioner Coleman extends a profit to 
the farmer of $6 per ton, or say, $90 to the acre. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 113 



FRUIT CULTURE. 



Long ago in those sections of the Territory, around Yankton, Vermil- 
lion, Sioux Falls, Canton, Scotland, and other localities where farming 
operations are a matter of some age, the question of raising fruit was set- 
tled satisfactorily, and during the past three years the conviction has be- 
gun to dawn on the minds of the people living in the newer counties 
further north, that the lack of fruit trees and shrubs growing about the 
farm yard, was the result of their own neglect and want of faith, rather 
than because of any difficulties attending the propagation of fruit on the 
prairies. At first, a few planted fruit trees as an experiment; wherever 
the trees were well cared for, a good, bearing orchard was the result, and 
served as a convincing argument to doubting neighbors. 

An unusually large number of fruit trees have been planted within the 
past two years. Each succeeding year will witness an increasing interest 
in the raising of home-grown fruits, and a widening of the area now sup- 
posed to be adapted to fruit- culture. 

Wild fruits, such as plums, grapes, choke-cherries, buffalo-berries, grow 
in abundance along the banks, and cover the islands of the Missouri and 
other streams. These wild shrubs bear in profusion a delicious fruit, 
plump and of good size, which is eagerly sought for by the house-wives for 
canning and preserving. Experiments made in cultivating these wild 
varieties have succeeded well. In the Black Hills there is an abundance 
of wild fruits of great, variety. Prof. Jenney, who visited this region in 
1875, under authority of the Secretary of the Interior, to report on its cli- 
mate and resources, says: 

"The fruits found growing wild in the Black Hills are an evidence 
of the adaptability of the country for raising the more valuable 
cultivated varieties, and hence I propose to consider the wild fruits 
which are found in this region much more in detail than they would 
otherwise deserve. The most useful is the red raspberry, which was 
found in large patches in the vicinity of Terry Peak, at an elevation of 
6,500 feet above the sea. The plant is rather dwarfish in size, the bearing 
canes being about two feet high, and August 15th, were loaded with deli- 



114 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

cious fruit, resembling very closely the cultivated variety 'Knerit's 
giant' in size, flavor and productiveness. A variety of black gooseberry 
was abundant on the western side of the Hills. The fruit was of a pleas- 
ant acid flavor, and of good size, only differing from the ordinary Western 
wild gooseberry in being blue-black in color, instead of dark red. Sev- 
eral species of currants, including the black, red, and fetid varieties were 
occasionally seen, but are valueless. The wild, Western strawberry grows 
throughout the Hills. It is a very shy bearer, and the fruit is deficient in 
flavor. The bunchberry or cornel (cornus Canadensis), was found in the 
extreme northern part of the Hills. I have never seen it elsewhere, ex- 
cept in Maine and Nova Scotia. Service berries (amelanchier Canaden- 
sis), were quite plenty on Spring and Rapid creeks, in July. The com- 
mon wild, red plum grows in patches among the foot hills along the bot- 
toms of the ravines. The fruit was ripe about September 20th. The only 
variety of grape noticed was a kind of frost grape, found along the banks 
of the streams, near the edge of the plains. Quite extensive patches of 
the two varieties of hazel nuts were observed in the southeastern part of 
the Hills, associated with alder, white birch, iron-wood, white-elm, burr- 
oak, sumac, the poison ivy, the Virginia creeper, and many other plants 
of wide range and distribution." 

The fact of fruits of such a variety, and bearing profusely, growing in all 
parts of the Territory, is of itself a sufficient guarantee of the adaptability 
of our climate and soil to fruit culture; but in addition to this, the success 
attending the efforts of a great number of farmers who have surrounded 
their prairie homes with bearing orchards, shows that fruit culture in Da- 
kota has passed the experimental stage, and the farmer who is without a 
supply of home grown fruit, has but himself to blame. 

A few statements are added, made by farmers who speak from experi- 
ence in the raising of fruit in the Territory. 

Yankton cunty — " At our last fair, ninety-two samples of apples grown 
in Dakota were exhibited, together with a fine display of grapes and 
plums. Small fruits of all kinds are raised without difficulty, and of ex- 
cellent quality." 

Turner count}' — " Two miles south of Hurley, there is a quarter section 
of land covered with fruit trees, vines and shrubbery, all growing, and 
much of it ladened with fruit. It would be hard to tell how many bushels 
of fruit of different kinds will be harvested. It would surprise anyone 
not acquainted with the fact to visit the place, and it is a sight well worth 
any person's time and expense, who cares to raise fruit." 

Lincoln county — " If anyone says that fruit cannot be raised in Dakota, 
he had better retract the assertion. Gus Lindeman, who lives about 
four miles south of Canton, raised such an enormous crop of apples last 
season, that he was compelled to prop up the heavily ladened limbs for 
fear they would break off. There were several farmers in Lincoln county 
who had apples all winter, that were raised on their own soil and planted 
bv their own hands." 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Bon Homme county — " If any person has doubts about this being a fruit 
country, he is invited to call at this office and inspect a small branch from 
one of Mayor Stafford's Siberian crab-apple trees, and have his doubts dis- 
pelled. The branch contains upwards of sixty perfect apples, and is a 
fair sample of the trees in the mayor's garden." 

Kingsbury county — " Mr. A. M. Barker, who has had a good deal of ex- 
perience in fruit growing savs, that he never had as good success in rais- 
ing apple trees anywhere else as he has had in Dakota. The trees do not 
blight or winter-kill, and make a rapid growth. 

M. Pearce — " My success, and that of others for the last few years, con- 
vinces me that with the right varieties, properlv taken care of, there are 
no crops so valuable as the small fruits; but each must be taken care of; 
none of them will bear neglect. All require good soil, such as would pro- 
duce a good crop of corn, and plowed deep and harrowed level. Plant in 
the spring when the ground gets warm, — say about the 10th of May." 

Burleigh county — "Most kinds of garden shrubbery thrive, and fruit bet- 
ter here than in the states. One need only make a trip to the fruit farm 
of Mr. John Millet, four miles north of Bismarck, to be thoroughly con- 
vinced of the fact. The visitor can see gooseberries, currants, raspber- 
ries and blackberries growing in full vigor. The canes and shrubbery 
were last season so loaded with fruit that they bent to the ground." 

Minnehaha county — " Strawberries, raspberries, currants, and all kinds 
of small fruit are raised here in great abundance, and of unsurpassed 
quality. Orchards have been established which are astounding even 
their owners by the yields that are secured, and by the evidence that this 
region will, in not many years, be as much noted for its apples, and large 
fruit generally, as it already is for its cereal products." 

Morton county — " A farmer who set out a few apple trees in this country, 
west of the Missouri river, as an experiment, a few years ago, has a good 
prospect for fine fruit this year, and is satisfied that nearly all fruits can 
be grown successfully here. The strawberries are fully up to those grown 
in the most favored locations of New Jersey, the strawberry paradise." 

Clay county — " In the matter of fruit especially, Clay county is pre-em- 
inently ahead of all other sections. An inspection of several orchards 
near Vermillion would be a cause of surprise even to a resident of one of 
the other counties who may think he himself has succeeded in fruit cul- 
ture. Apples, crabs, plums and grapes are to be found in great variety, 
and of healthful growth." 

At the last Territorial fair this (Clay) and Turner county had on exhibi- 
tion a display of fruit which would have been creditable to any state of 
the Union. The Clay county exhibit included thirty different varieties 
of apples alone. 

L. J. Moore, Richland county — " I have about fifty bearing apple trees 
besides numerous currant bushes and a large strawberry patch, all of 

which have done well considering the fact that I have left them to shift 

for themselves." 



116 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Butte county — " While speaking of berries we will say, that strawberries, 
red raspberries, service berries, two kinds of buffalo berries, besides choke 
cherries and plums, grow luxuriantly in the Hills; we can see no reason 
why the farmers can not have all the berries they could use if they felt 
disposed to cultivate them." 

Pennington county — " Anyone who imagines that fruit cannot be suc- 
cessfully grown in this part of the country should visit the nursery of Hale 
and Thomson on Box Elder creek, five miles north from town, to have 
such impression removed. The nursery this season turned out several 
thousands of quarts of strawberries, while the currant, gooseberry and 
raspberry bushes are heavily loaded. The- vineyard gives promise of a 
fine yield of grapes, the Concord variety showing up particularly well. 
Apple trees of a number of varieties will also yield well this year. As for 
shade and ornamental trees, there are many thousands of them ranging 
from seedlings to three-year-olds. And it must be remembered that this 
is a young nursery. What it will be in five years from the present time 
may possibly be guessed when the fine growth already made by the stock 
is known." 

Other counties make equally as good reports of the success attending 
fruit culture wherever tried. 

The Dakota Farmers' Alliance recommends the following varieties of 
fruit for Dakota: 

Apples — Wealthy, Duchess, Tetofsky; and in the Missouri valley as far 
west as Bon Homme county, Walbridge, Fameuse, and Haas. Hybrid 
apples: Whitney No. 20, Crab, Transcendent, and Hyslop. 
u Raspberries — Turner and Cuthbert; black raspberries, Gregg, and Doo- 
little. 

Strawberries — Crescent, and Downing. 

Currants — Victoria, Red Ditch, and White Grape. 

Gooseberries — Downing, and Houghton. Early Richmond is recom- 
mended for trial. 

Plums — De Soto, Forest, and Garden. 

Grapes — Worden, Janes ville, and Concord. 

The writer has a vivid recollection of assisting, some twenty years ago, 
in the planting of the first fruit trees ever grown in a county of a neigh- 
boring state. At that time it was thought fruit-culture could never suc- 
ceed so far West, and many were the comments volunteered as regards 
the folly of the venture. 

To-day, that little county makes return of more than a hundred thou- 
sand thrifty fruit trees, and in 1883 the value of the horticultural products 
for the state, amounted to $1,640,525. 

The man who is skeptical as regards the raising of fruit in Dakota will 
live to see the wonderful success which has attended the efforts of the 
early settlers there, repeated in our own grand Territory. 

The value of orchard and nursery products for 1880 in the Territory, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 117 

amounted to $156; in 1884 the value had increased to $13,378— nearly 1,000 
per cent, in four years. 

From 1884 to the present time, the ratio of increased investment in 
fruit culture is even greater, but reliable figures are not available. 

In many localities the farmers have organized societies to further the 
interests of horticulture and forestry, and, in addition, there is a Territo- 
rial organization, by name the " Dakota Horticultural and Forestry Asso- 
ciation," officered as below: 

President, E. DeBell, Sioux Falls; Vice President, G. H. Whitney, Es- 
mond; Secretary, Mrs. L. A. Alderman, Hurley; Treasurer, A. W. Hayes, 
Parker. 



The power which is to mould this Nation and the world lies in the 
West. — [Bishop Whipple. 



118 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



TIMBER. 



*The entire area of the Black Hills is a well wooded country. The 
density of the forests clothing the hill sides have, from their sombre hue 
when viewed from a distance, given the name to this region, the " Black 
Hills," by which it is known also in the Indian dialects. 

The following trees yield timber in this section: The heavy pine, (pinus 
ponderosa,) often known as yellow or Norway pine, the most abundant 
and valuable tree in the hills. 

Black and white spruce, found among the valleys in the central and 
northern portion of this region, covering a considerable area. 

Burr-oak, (quercus macrocarpa,) in small groves on the eastern slope, 
near the foothills. 

White elm, (ulmus Americana,) associated with the burr-oak, occurs 
along the valleys of the streams near the eastern and southeastern foot- 
hills. 

Aspen, white birch, ash, mulberry, box-elder, (negundo,) iron-wood, 
(horn beam,) and juniper, grow sparingly in different parts of the Hills, 
but are of little comparative value. 

The pine forests cover so extensive an area and yield so large a propor- 
tion of the timber, that all the other trees combined may be neglected in 
comparison, though they will be found valuable in the future develop- 
ment of the country. 

The Norway pine is a tall, straight tree, free from limbs for one-half its 
height from the ground. The wood is white, soft, with a straight, some- 
what coarse grain, free from knots and splitting readily into "shakes," 
shingles, or other similar forms. The sap is more resinous than that of 
the white pine, and, in this respect, this variety approaches more nearly 
the pitch pine of North Carolina, a tree which it somewhat resembles in 
its style of growth. 

On the bottom lands in the lower valley of French creek, specimens of 
this pine were seen that were fully 100 feet in height and would measure 
thirty-five to forty inches through at the ground. Trees of these large 



Prof. Jenney's report on the resources of the Black Hills. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 119 

dimensions are, however, rare in the Hills. Timber of from twelve to 
twenty-four inches in diameter is common, while extensive tracts are 
covered by a dense forest of small, slender pines from fifty to sixty feet 
high, and rarely less than eight, or more than twelve inches through at 
the ground. 

The pine forests in the Black Hills, where the trees are of mature 
growth and uninjured by wind or fire, furnish good straight saw logs from 
thirty to fifty feet in length, and very uniform in thickness, with a gradual 
taper, averaging in diameter from twelve to twenty inches. * * * * 

On the elevated portion of the interior of the Hills, especially along the 
valleys in the limestone formation, extending from Custer Peak to Floral 
valley, and on the headwaters of Rapid, Castle, Elk, Bear, Butte, and 
Spearfish creeks, two varieties of spruce, resembling the black and white 
spruce of the Northern states, are quite abundant. The trees are tall, 
growing thickly together, and furnish logs quite uniform in diameter 
throughout their whole length. 

By careful measurements of the map, the area within the timber line, 
or outer boundary of the forest at the edge of the plains, is 3,800 square 
miles. One-half of this, or 1,900 square miles, is covered by woods, in- 
cluding the large forests of young trees, as well as the sections of valuable 
timber. I estimate that one-fifth of the above area of the Black Hills, or 
nearly 800 square miles, equal to 500,000 acres, is covered by timber of 
merchantable quality, suitable for cutting and sawing into lumber. 

This was the condition of the timber area of the Black Hills, when 
ceded by the Indians in 1876, and though the annual demand since, for 
mining timbers and for lumber, has been quite heavy, a large part of the 
forest is still remaining. It is estimated that each year in the Hills, more 
than twenty-five million feet of pine logs are manufactured into lumber — 
none of which is exported. Nearly the entire stock of lumber used is 
manufactured from the native forests. 

Along the Missouri river cottonwood, ash, willow, and box elder timber 
grows to a considerable extent, the groves occasionally widening to forests 
of some magnitude. The islands are invariably densely covered with 
trees and shrubs. 

Around Devils Lake there is a large belt of timber, and another much 
more extensive in the Turtle Mountains near the Canada line. The banks 
of the Red River are lined with oak and other forest trees of large size. 
Its tributaries the Sheyenne, Wild Rice, Maple, Goose, Turtle, Forest, 
Park, Tongue, and Pembina rivers are also well timbered. The course of 
the Mouse, is marked by a heavy growth of timber, such as oak, ash, 
aspen, box-elder and other varieties. 

On the coteaus between the Missouri and Jim rivers, and in the breaks 
of the hills west of the Missouri, patches of timber occur frequently. All 
of the streams emptying into the Missouri from the west, and many of 
the lakes scattered about the Territorv, are more or less timbered. The 



120 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

settler in the vicinity of any of the multitude of smaller rivers will find 
no difficulty in obtaining a plentiful supply of cheap fuel. 

Grand Forks, on the Red River, is a lumber manufacturing point of great 
importance. Two mills alone have a capacity of over 200,000 feet of pine 
lumber per day. The annual out-put of lumber of the mills of Grand 
F'orks is estimated at 20,000,000 feet. The logs are rafted down the Red 
from the pineries of Minnesota. 

Hon. Lauren Dunlap, lately in charge of this office, in writing of the na- 
tive timber has said : "While it may be news to some people to learn that Da- 
kota has such a timber acreage even as reported, it is nevertheless a fact, 
that the total timbered area, native and cultivated, in Dakota, considered 
in one body, exceeds at this time the area of each of several Eastern 
states. There are more acres of native timber in the Black Hills alone, 
than in either Rhode Island or Delaware." 



Remember that this office answers every inquiry, no matter how trivial, 
coming from anv one interested in Dakota's growth and advancement. 



RESOURCES 0* DAKOTA. 121 



CULTIVATED TREES. 



Science has demonstrated that the growth of trees has an effect on the 
meteorological conditions of any locality, of the highest importance. Any 
number of instances are recorded where the wholesale destruction of for- 
ests have changed the condition of localities from that of gardens of fer- 
tility to something a little better than a desert waste, and, vice-versa, 
where the re-foresting of a denuded country has led to the most beneficial 
results as regards the climate, the precipitation of moisture, the atmos- 
pheric currents and the temperature of the atmosphere. 

The Chief of the Bureau of Forestry in a report to the Commissioner of 
Agriculture, cites the remarkable instance of the island of Ascension, 
which was entirely barren when first occupied in 1815, and so destitute of 
water that supplies were brought from England and the Cape of Good 
Hope. Means have since been taken to plant trees and to introduce ag- 
riculture on the island. The effect has been remarkable. The island 
grows forty kinds of trees, where but one grew in 1843, owing to the 
want of water. The water supply is excellent, and the garrison and 
ships are now supplied in abundance with vegetables of various kinds 
raised on the island. 

And of the island of Cyprus, once regarded as one of the richest and 
most fruitful islands of the Mediterranean, which, when it fell under the 
power of the Turks, was stripped of its woods with the most baleful 
effects. The rainfall diminished, water courses dried up, swamps formed 
on the sea shore and the island was visited by deadly malaria. On falling 
into the hands of Great Britain, one of the first duties of the British gov- 
ernor was to see to the preservation of the few remaining patches of 
forest, and to plant hundreds of thousands of blue gum trees in the low 
swampy lands of the coast, with the view of neutralizing the malarial ex- 
halations from the soil. These plantations are only five years old, but 
they are said to be exercising, already, a very beneficial result. 

The Encyclopedia Britannica ascribes the political decadence of Spain 
in a great measure to the destruction of its forests, and remarks that the 
evils of denudation are perhaps nowhere more signally exemplified than 
in Spain. 



122 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

And Sicily, once the great grain reservoir for Rome, after the 
island was despoiled of its forests gradually lost her fertility and mildness 
of climate. The ruins of proud and opulent Syracuse are in a desert 
covered by sand, which the hot sirocco carried over the Mediterranean 
sea from Africa. A few isolated, well watered and carefully cultivated 
districts of very limited extension, is all that is left to remind the tourist 
of the by-gone glory of Sicily. 

Similar examples of the great evils following the obliteration of forest, 
and of the benefits resulting from re-foresting, are to be found in the his- 
tory of nearly all of Europe. 

It has been so in Germany, in France, in Herzegovina, in Montenegro, 
in Italy, and with the islands of Ceylon, St. Helena, Santa Cruz, and Ternate. 
And such instances are not wanting even at home, though the period of 
settlement is but a day in comparison with that of Europe, and the con- 
sequent destruction to the forest though rapidly going on, is not yet fully 
completed. 

No country on the face of the earth possessed the magnificent forested do- 
main equal to that of the United States Government when first estab- 
lished, but a hundred years of spoliation and waste, in addition to legiti- 
mate sale and . transfer, are rapidly doing the work of depletion. The 
entire forest area of the United States is estimated to be less than 450 
million acres, of which the Government owns eighty-five millions. It is 
estimated that the annual consumption of timber in the United States 
amounts to twenty billion cubic feet. 

Hon. Emil Rothe, before the American Forestry Congress said: " Have 
you never tried to find out why southern Ohio has ceased to be the great 
fruit country it was formerly known to be ? Why is it that we cannot raise 
any more peaches in our state, while they used to bring sure crops not 
more than a quarter of a century ago? What is it that makes our climate 
once so favorable to mankind and vegetation, more unsteady from year to 
year? Look at the woodless hills of southern Ohio and you have the an- 
swer. Let the hills be deprived of the rest of the protection which the 
forests afford, and half of the area of the state will be sterile in less than 
fifty years." 

Hon. Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, said on the same occasion: "I 
move in the sphere of experience with more certainty. I remember 
when the forests were hardly broken here, that springs of water were 
very frequent and perennial. The rivulets, creeks and rivers had a per- 
petual flow. These have now changed. The rivulets and creeks are now 
dried up in summer, and the fish so often caught by me in earlier years 
are gone. Not one spring in a thousand remains. Indian corn was gen- 
erally planted in March, and the rains and exhalations of moisture from 
the surroundings made crops successful every year. Now, the destruction 
of the forests has lost to us that bed of leaves which was a perpetual res- 
ervoir of water for springs and evaporation; aided by the treading of the 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 123 

hard surface, the rainfall, if the same as of old, rushes off at once, sweep- 
ing the soil into the Mississippi delta. Dry winds absorb not only the 
ancient humidity of the air, but drink up the sub-soil evaporation, so that 
our winters are longer, more changeable and unendurable. Corn can 
hardly be safely planted till late in April, and drouth too often ruins all, 
in spite of our best efforts." 

The more one investigates the subject, the more convinced he must be- 
come tnat the planting of trees has a decided effect upon the regulation of 
storms, the formation of clouds and the descent of rain. It has been esti- 
mated that the leaves of a single tree, of large growth, would cover an area 
of more than 200,000 square feet, and that they give out every fair day of 
the growing season, 15,500 pounds, or seven and three-fourths tons of mois- 
ture. Multiply this sum by tens of thousands, and can one longer doubt 
the result of the humidity of the atmosphere, following the cultivation of 
forests? 

How wise, then, was the policy adopted by Government of fostering 
and encouraging the planting of trees and forests on our own Western 
plains, and what a grave error is about to be committed in the repeal by 
Congress of the timber culture act ? There may have been an occasional 
fraud perpetrated against the Government in obtaining title to a portion 
of the public domain, under the provisions of this law, but all laws, even 
the most useful, lead to evasions. No one who is familiar with the settle- 
ment of the Western plains, can gainsay the assertion that the enactment 
of the timber culture act was one of the most salutary laws ever passed by 
Congress, and has led to the growing of millions of trees and acres of for- 
ests upon the prairies of Kansas, Nebraska, and of Dakota, where 
otherwise would have remained an ocean's surface, unbroken by the 
pleasing sight of tree or shrub. 

That these forests planted in the West, have had a beneficial result in 
modifying the storms and increasing the rainfall, statistics of the National 
Weather Bureau give abundant proof. 

The good that would yet result to the prairies of the West from a con- 
tinuation of the law, guarded by such careful provisions as Congress may 
see fit to place around it, cannot be over-estimated. 

Hon. F. P. Baker, special agent of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
in speaking of the workings of the timber culture act in Kansas, says: 

" The passage of the timber culture act w r as one of the first steps taken 
by the Government in recognition of the necessity of tree-growing on 
our Western prairies. I have no hesitation in saying that the law has 
done a great deal directly, and much more indirectly, toward covering 
with forest trees great tracts which would otherwise have been left bare 
to be scorched by the sun, swept by the hot winds, thus to aid in perpet- 
uating the reign of drouth and grasshoppers in the Western country. 
Let any man visit the counties of Kansas, settled since the passage of the 
timber culture act, and he would see more trees growing than were to be 



124 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

seen in prairie counties settled before the passage of the act, and. within 
ten or fifteen years after their first settlement." 

As an example of what has been done in tree planting, Mr. Baker cites 
the states of Kansas and Nebraska. In the latter state it is estimated that 
there are growing 53,000,000 forest trees planted by the hand of man. It 
is safe to estimate the same number to the acre as is required under the 
timber culture act — that is 675. This would give a little over 78,000 acres 
in forest trees in that state. 

In Kansas, the statistics given by the report of the secretary of the 
State Board of Agriculture show 119,682 acres, and the same calculation 
as above would show the number of trees in artificial forests in the state 
to be 70,486,350. 

In Dakota 1,091 final proofs have been made to date, (June 30, 1887,) 
under the timber culture act and, as the law requires ten acres of healthy 
growing trees before the final proof will be accepted, we must have at 
least 10,910 acres of trees and calculating the legal requirement of 675 to 
the acre we have 7,364,250 growing trees on the prairies of Dakota as an 
accomplished result of this beneficial and wise act. But this is only a 
partial showing of what has been done in Dakota through the encourage- 
ment by Government of the planting of forests. It will be remembered 
that it requires eight years from the date of entry at least or as much as 
thirteen years if the full extent of the law is taken, before final proof can be 
offered on a timber culture tract. Therefore, timber culture entries made 
since 1879 are all incomplete, with a possible addition of many more made 
prior to that date by entry-men who have taken advantage of the longer 
term allowed by law. There are 52,226 of these entries and estimating that 
the law is being complied with since 1880 in the same ratio as the number 
of final proofs offered to date bear to the whole number of entries made 
up to 1879 — it would show 63,130 acres of growing forest or 42,612,750 trees 
in all, for which the citizens of this treeless region must bless the provis- 
ions of the timber culture law. 
In 1882 there were 4 final proofs made of timber culture in Dakota. 

" 1883 " " 111 

" 1884 " " 169 

" 1885 " ", 161 

" 1886 " " 275 

" 1887 " " 371 

The timber culture act should not be repealed. Even in its present 
shape it is accomplishing as much good as any of the laws ever enacted by 
Congress governing the public domain. But, rather, so amend it that title 
to one-quarter of each section of land, remaining subject to entry, can only 
be obtained by a full compliance with the timber culture act, and at once 
you sweep away all danger of evasions and increase ten fold the benefits 
to accrue to the Nation by compelling an enlargement of the area devoted 
to forests. This subject has been dwelt on to a tiresome length because it 
is our desire to impress on the new-comer the many advantages of devot- 
ing some little attention to the propagation of trees. It not only beautifies 



KESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 125 

the farm and home, but serves to break the force of storms and each tree 
planted adds its mite toward the gentle distribution of the rainfalls and 
the tempering of the searching winds. Not only that, but there is no ven- 
ture so profitable — and attended with so little risk as that of tree culture. 
Emil Rothe, in a lecture on the profits of forest culture, has said: " Many 
millions of dollars of American capital are invested in various enterprises 
which require a much longer time to yield profit or income and never pay 
nearly so well as systematic forest culture in the proper locality. There is 
certainly no risk in forest culture. It produces an article of general and 
steadily increasing demand, and it can be calculated with almost math- 
ematical certainty what profit may be derived from it and within what 
time. 

"The fact that it is highly remunerative in all Europe where land is much 
higher in price than here, should justify the expectation that it will be 
profitable. It is well known that on this continent forest trees grow 
much quicker and comparatively taller than in the Eastern Hemisphere. 
Here, the most useful trees attain their full development in two-thirds of 
the time required in Europe, an advantage which can hardly be over- 
estimated. 

"The governments of Prussia, of several of the smaller German princi- 
palities, and of France, Austria, and Italy make forest culture an unfailing 
source of a large yearly income. They find it profitable to buy tracts of 
inferior lands at prices equal to those of our best farming lands, and to 
stock them with timber. 

"Only the better class of wheat or meadow-land nets a greater average 
revenue, in twenty-five years, than well managed forests — a fact which may, 
at first sight, seem incredible, but which is easily accounted for Ly com- 
parison between the yearly expenses of grain culture and the trifling out- 
lay required for the planting and maintenance of a forest after the trees 
have become two or three years old, and by taking in consideration the 
frequent failures of grain crops and the sure steadiness of the growth of 
trees." 

By all means plant at least a few trees about your farm and do it at 
once. You will live to reap the reward of your efforts and forethought 
in a hundred different ways. 

There is not the least difficulty in growing trees anywhere on the 
prairies if proper care is taken in selecting the varieties and in the man- 
ner and time of planting them. Some exertion, too, must be expended for 
the first two or three years, in cultivating in and about the trees. 

Hon. N. H. Egleston, ex-chief of the Government Bureau of Forestry, 
says: "The prairies are destitute of trees, not on account of peculiarities 
of soil or climate, but -from other causes. AVe have ample evidence that 
they w r ere once clothed with an abundant arboreal growth, and these re- 
ports, with other facts, show that they may be covered again with such a 
growth, so far as it is for any reason desirable. In almost all portions of 
the prairie region, even those least favorable to vegetable products, on 



126 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

account of the deficiency of the water supply, groves and belts of trees of 
various kinds — the result of planting during the last few years — prove 
that with proper care in the cultivation of trees, and in guarding them 
from injury by lire or by roaming animals, forests may be established in 
sufficient abundance to meet all demands for lumber and fuel, and to se- 
cure those climatic and other influences on account of which forests are 
valuable to any country." 

In the report on Government forestry, 1884, forty-seven different kinds 
of trees were reported from Dakota as having been tried by planting. In 
order of preference the leading varieties are as follows: Cottonwood, 
box-elder, ash (white), walnut (black), maple (soft), elm (white), willow 
(white), oak, maple (hard), butternut, poplar (Lombardy),balm of Gilead, 
basswood (or linden). 

The following recommendations as regards tree planting are offered by- 
the Dakota Horticultural society: 

Trees for forest planting: box-elder, white or green ash, rock 
elm, larch, white birch, soft maple, butternut, cottonwood, 
black cherry. For wind breaks or shelter belts: white willow, cot- 
tonwood, box-elder. For street planting: white elm, hard or sugar maple, 
basswood, hackberry, ash. Ornamental planting: white birch, larch, bird 
cherry. Evergreens for forests planting: Scotch pine, red cedar, white 
pine, American arbor vitse, European larch, (conifer, but not an ever- 
green.) Ornamental evergreens: dwarf mountain pine, Colorado blue 
spruce, Northern white spruce, Siberian fir, red cedar, Scotch pine, Nor- 
way spruce, arbor- vitse in variety. 

This office has reports of a cottonwood tree twenty years old, recently 
cut down, which had attained a circumference of seventy-five inches, and 
when cut up furnished two and one-fourth cords of wood. 

Another report says that trees eight years old grown from seed are now 
fifteen feet high, and four inches in diameter. 

The Territory makes the following exemptions from taxation as 
a reward for tree planting: Any one-fourth part of any quarter 
section of prairie land, the same being a legal subdivision, on 
which five acres of timber shall be planted, either by sowing seed 
or by setting trees or cuttings, and the same to be kept in grow- 
ing order by cultivation, and not to be more than twelve feet apart 
each way, together with all improvements thereon, not to exceed in value 
$1,000, and for a period of ten years from and after the planting of said 
timber ; and any change of ownership of such land shall in no way effect 
the exemption from taxation as herein provided. All improvements 
made on real property by setting out either forest or ft ait trees, shrub- 
bery or vineyards, which shall not be considered as increasing the value 
of the land for purposes of taxation. 

Let us plant more trees, and who knows but that our millions of acres 
of growing forests will some day supply the inhabitants of the East with 
number— as well as our wheat fields will furnish them bread. 



KESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 127 

The importance of forestry has been recognized for many years in other 
countries. In Germany the management of forests by the state has been 
carried on for hundreds of years. In Hanover there are 600,000 acres in 
the government forests, the annual expense of keeping which amounts to 
1650,000, the receipts $1,500,000, and the profit $850,000. The state forests 
of Saxony cover nearly 400,000 acres, and yield a net yearly rental of 
$1,250,000. The state forests of Bavaria are even greater in extent, and 
return, after paying all expenses, $4,500,000 per annum. Austria, France, 
Russia, Sweden, Italy and Denmark, have schools of forestry maintained 
by the government, and the national forests are protected by stringent 
laws. In Sweden, even farther back than 1647, the party who cut down a 
tree was required by law to plant two in its place — a law it would be well 
for our Government to imitate now. 

For many years the United States did nothing to encourage forestry. 
The first timber culture act was passed by Congress March 3, 1873, and 
amended March 13, 1874. The passage of this act has strengthened the 
growing sentiment in favor of forestry, and led to the establishment, by 
the Federal Government, some five years ago, of a Division of Forestry, 
the present chief of the Division being Mr. B. E. Fernow. 

Many of the prairie states organized forestry associations, and encour- 
aged in other ways the planting of trees. 

Twenty-three states and territories recognize the importance of trees 
upon the prairies about the homes, along the streets, and in the public 
parks and school grounds, by designating a day, usually in April or May, 
termed an Arbor Day, which the people are urged to devote exclusively 
to the planting of trees. The governors of these states and territories 
designate the day by annnal proclamation, and request the closing of 
schools and all places of business, and that all manner of labor cease, in 
order that no citizen may be deterred from planting a tree. 

Arbor Day originated in Nebraska some fifteen years ago, under the ad- 
ministration of Governor Morton, and it is estimated that there are over 
600,000 thrifty trees in that state, where,prior to this day devoted to arbor- 
eal production, there were scarcely any to be found except along the 
streams. 

The observance of Arbor Day in Dakota is said to owe its first sugges- 
tion to Rev. C. F. Clapp, formerly pastor of the Congregational Church, 
Yankton. In the spring of 1884 Mr. Clapp called the attention of Acting 
Governor Teller to the fact that many Western states had adopted such a 
custom and suggested that Mr. Teller issue a proclamation for the obser- 
vance of Arbor Day in Dakota. The Acting Governor agreed to Mr. 
Clapp's suggestion, issued his proclamation and the custom has been 
regularly observed during the three years since. The present execu- 
tive, Governor Louis K. Church, designated May 5, 1887, as Arbor Day, 
declaring the same a legal holiday and urged the people to devote it 
exclusively to tree planting. The day was very generally observed and 



128 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

thousands of trees were planted by the school children, the arboreal so- 
cieties, the village authorities and the individual citizen. This office has 
received reports of the day's celebration from every section of the Terri- 
tory. 

There were more trees planted on Arbor Day, this spring in the three 
towns alone, of Mitchell, Huron and Yankton, than were reported last 
year from the entire thirty-seven counties reporting. Owing to the dif- 
ference in climate in a territory of so vast an extent as Dakota, an Arbor 
Day cannot be designated suitable to all the varying conditions and many 
trees were planted prior and subsequent to the date named by the Gover- 
nor of which this office has received no reports. 

It is quite safe to estimate the trees planted this spring, (other than 
those planted under the timber culture act,) at upwards of a million; and 
the number planted the three years previous would certainly exceed a 
million and a half. 

This number, added to the trees planted under the timber culture act, 
shows a grand total of 44,112,750 cultivated trees in the Territory to-day, 
and, estimating the number to the acre as is required under this act — 675 — 
would give 65,352 acres of forest. 

The results of tree culture are plainly observed in the towns and around 
the farms, where age has worn off, somewhat, the excitement of business 
engagements and subdued the fever of real estate speculations. 

In the cities of Yankton, Elk Point, Sioux Falls, and other towns, and 
the country surrounding them — the old settled area of the Territory — the 
trees and shrubbery growing about the yards and along the streets and 
roads present as favorable a view to the visitor as is to be seen in cities of 
the East, where the trees are native. 

The towns and communities of youthful age are imitating with commenda- 
ble zeal the examples set by the older places, and within a few years the 
Dakota village or farm destitute of the shade and ornament furnished by 
trees, will be remarked as a noticeable exception. 

Our law-makers have wisely amended the general law governing the 
incorporation of cities in Dakota, so as to permit the city authorities to 
compel the planting of trees along the streets, by ordinance, in the same 
manner as sidewalks are constructed. This will insure a regularity of 
time, of distance, and of the variety, in the planting of shade trees; and 
place their care and protection in the hands of a public officer. 

With such a provision there will be no treeless spaces to mark the resi- 
dence of the unthrifty citizen or to point out the investments of Eastern 
speculators. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 129 



STOCK RAISING. 



While the leading industry of Dakota is the tillage of the soil, the live 
stock interests are rapidly assuming a rank of equal importance with re- 
spect to the amount of capital invested and the revenue derived there- 
from. 

The census of 1880 gave the value of all farm products in Dakota for the 
crop year of 1879 at $5,048,814, while the value of live stock was placed at 
$6,463,274. 

In 1885 the products of the farm had increased to $36,808,131, and the 
value of live stock to $40,528,897. 

On January 1, 1887, the value of live stock in the Territory had reached 
the vast sum of $43,195,229 — an amount nearly 50 per cent, greater than 
the value of the three principal farm products, wheat, corn, and oats — of 
the same year. 

If we add to the sum given as the value of Dakota's live stock, the 
value of the dairy products and of the wool clip for the same year, some 
idea may be had of the rapidly increasing investment by our farmers in 
the growing of stock. 

VALUE OF LIVE STOCK. 



I860 


I 


Dollars. 

39,116 


1870 


H 


779,952 


1880 

1885 BBBH 


E5 


6,463,274 

gU ~ 40,528,897 


1887 Ell IMWM Will 




SH 43,195,229 



In 1880 there were in the Territory 41,670 horses, 2,703 mules, 40,572 
milch cows, 100,243 head of cattle, 30,244 sheep and 63,394 hogs. 

In 1880 these numbers had increased to 227,027 horses, 11,964 mules, 
199,480 milch cows, 710,934 cattle, 256,209 sheep and 427,176 hogs. Official 
returns show the percentage of increase in the number of animals for the 
year ending January 1, 1887, as follows: 

Horses, 10 per cent. ; mules, 3 per cent. ; milch cows, 10 per cent. ; cattle, 
13 per cent.; sheep, 1 per cent., and hogs 20 per cent. 

In seven years the value of live stock, in Dakota, has increased $36,- 
365,064, or more than an average increase of $5,000,000 per year. 

(5) 



130 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OP OXEN, MILCH COWS AND OTHER CATTLE 
In Dakota, 1886, and their value in comparison with each state and territory of the 

Union. 



BANK. STATES AND TER. 


NUMBER 




VALUE. DOLLARS. 


47 RHODE ISLAND 


! 


35,810 


1,236,531 


46 DELAWAEE, 


I 


55,820 


1,597,762 


45 CONNECTICUT, 


1 


234,586 


7.638,973 


44 NEW HAMPSHIRE, 


1 


236,933 


7,216,412 


43 NEW JERSEY, 


i 


242.866 


8.572,522 


42 ARIZONA, 


~I 


258,942 


4.985,853 


41 UTAH, 


■ 


264.376 


5,834,891 


40 MARYLAND, 


■ 


273,262 


7,412,891 


39 MASSACHUSETTS, 


■ 


285,617 


9,580,502 


38 NEVADA, 


■ 


334,742 


7,588,289 


37 MAINE, 


n 


351,009 


10,101,379 


36 SOUTH CAROLINA, 


■ 


361,606 


4,955,850 


35 WASHINGTON TER., 
34 IDAHO, 


~B~ 


363,079 
363,951 


9.107,148 
8,155,670 


33 VERMONT, 




399,705 


10,884,624 




RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 131 

The immense yield of the grain crops of Dakota has been heralded far 
and wide, and deservedly, too; yet we must not lose sight of the fact that 
the live stock interests have contributed a big share in building up the 
present wealth and prosperity of the Territory, and that each year is 
witnessing an astonishing increase of investment in this direction by the 
farmer. 

It is with a feeling of great satisfaction, and a conviction that the 
farmers of Dakota have discovered the sure road to success and wealth 
we observe this rapid enlargements of live stock investments. 

A droughty month, a day's hot wind or the hail-storm of an hour may 
undo the labor of an entire season and send want and poverty to the 
farmer who is dependent on the result of a single farm product. How 
different is the situation, under a like visitation, of the mixed farmer, 
who, in the event of failure of one crop, has another yielding good returns ; 
or should the year be so unfavorable as to end in a loss of the entire sea- 
son's work — a calamity which sometimes happens to the farmers of any 
land — how fortunate is the man who can fall back on his herds and flocks , 
and in this manner bridge over the days of agricultural disaster. Then, 
looking at the matter in another light, even with favorable crop seasons 
and an abundant yield of farm products, the farmer who combines stock 
growing with his other farm operations has a wonderful advantage over 
his neighbor who devotes his labor's solely to the tillage of the soil. He 
obtains a greater profit out of his farm products by feeding to stock and 
marketing his fat cattle. He is independent of wheat corners and the 
rapacity of transportation companies — he evades the many profits paid the 
grain buyer, the elevator and mill man and the carriers, by feeding his 
grain on the farm to his horses, cattle, sheep or hogs, as the case may be 
— for all of which, when ready for market, there is a steady demand at 
home. 

Nowhere in the world do the native grasses grow with more luxuriance 
and richness than in Dakota — and the crop is a never failing one. 

The prairie everywhere is covered with a luxuriant growth of buffalo, 
gramma, and blue stem grasses, equal for grazing and hay to the tame va- 
rieties of the East. The entire hay crop of the Territory, (which in 1885 
amounted to 1,527,987 tons,) is made from the native grasses. One has 
only to find a vacant piece of prairie and his hay crop w T ill cost him but 
the expense of cutting and stacking. 

These native grasses cure to hay upon the ground, and stock will fatten 
on the prairies almost as rapidly as they do in the East feeding on grain. 
The grass retains its richness throughout the year — even where uncut — 
and in many places stock is kept through the severest winters solely by 
pasturing on the plains. It is mowed at any time, making quite as good 
hay in the fall as during the summer months. 

Millions of acres of this native forage grow, cure, and go to waste an- 
nually, uncut and unfed. If the gras?, growing on the prairies of Dakota 
could all be utilized and turned into beef, it would supply the markets of 



132 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

the world. The native hay crop will add millions to the annual profits to 
be derived from that source when the day arrives that not an acre is al- 
lowed to w go to waste. 

r There never has been a time in the history of Dakota, when the prairies 
did not furnish an abundant supply of fodder for stock — no matter how 
disastrous might be the effects of the weather on the farm crops. The 
dryer the season the better the quality of the native grass, is the universal 
verdict of the ranchmen who were wont to herd their cattle on the prairies 
long before Dakota was thought to be fitted for agricultural pursuits. 

As has been said, large herds of cattle are annually kept on the prairies 
without grain or other fodder — grazing on the native grasses the entire 
season-Miheir only shelter from the storms of winter being found in the 
breaks of the surrounding hills. 

Along the Belle Fourche, the Cheyenne and their tributaries, on all 
sides of the Black Hills; the Little Missouri, and the great stretch of un- 
settled country to the west; the Mouse river and the coteaus of the north, 
many thousancFkead of cattle, horses and sheep are wintered in this way. 
l w . The stock is simply branded and then turned out to "rustle," in the 
stockman's parlance, and not the least attention is given to the herd until 
the spring " round-up " of the following year. A " round-up " is where a 
collection of cow-boys, representing the various ranches of the district, 
meet at an agreed time and place for the purpose of driving all the stock 
together, when each owner separates his particular brand from, the rest, 
brands the calves and again turns the herd out on the prairies. The next 
"round-up" occurs later, when the stock is again encircled and the fat 
cattle cut out of the herd to be driven to market. 

This is the manner in which the large cattle ranches are managed, where 
immigration and the settlements have not compelled its abandonment. 
However, the rapid encroachment of the farmer on the stockman's do- 
main has driven the ranches to a rather limited district in comparison 
with the great area over which, at one time, his herds roamed at will. 

It cannot be long ere cattle ranching in Dakota, on the great scale of 
the earlv day, will be one of the lost arts. The rush of immigration 
spreading over every section of the Territory will render necessary the 
herding of the flocks on the prairies through the spring, summer and fall; 
the feeding of native hay in the winter season and the furnishing of other 
shelter from the weather than the hills and breaks, as is done in the older 
settled sections. 

In addition to the wonderful nutritive qualities of the native grasses, 
the dryness and equability of the climate has much to do in making the. 
raising of stock successful in the highest degree A writer has truthfully 
said: " The climate (of Dakota) can be called the chief advantage of the 
country for stock raising, the summers being of about the temperature 
of the much noted stock raising regions of the Old World, and the winters 
cold sunny and bright. It is the cold, combined with the absence of high 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 133 

humidity, that gives the country such advantages for stock raising, over 
more humid and warmer localities, for the natural habitat of all our useful 
domestic animals, the horse, ox and sheep, is in a region having precisely 
the same climate as this, the steppes and plains of Central Asia, north of 
latitude 47°. Probably more cattle range on these unsheltered plains to- 
day than in America. Atkinson, in his travels, mentions the tens of 
thousands of head grazing around the steppes which surround Lake 
Baikal in latitude 52°." 

Rain is almost entirely unknown between October and April; stock are 
seldom wet during the cold weather, and there is none of that moist air, 
peculiar to Eastern climates, which causes a too rapid radiation of animal 
heat, resulting in chilly sensations to man and beast alike. 

The climate being so dry and equable prevents the prevalence of those 
diseases that decimate the flocks and herds in so many other localities. 
Notwithstanding the fact that the past winter was an unusually severe 
one, and that many herds were on the range without shelter or provision 
of food, resulting in a greater percentage of loss than would have occurred 
had the cattle been properly cared for, the loss, during the year, was only 
4 per cent.— no greater than is recorded in twenty-four of the states and 
territories, and less than one-half the loss as compared with some. Cat- 
tle on the ranges suffered heavily from the severity of the winter. Where 
stock are provided with the least attempt at shelter and forage, there is 
never any loss, and it always comes out strong and in good flesh in the 
spring. Were it not for the custom prevailing in some sections of the 
Territory of turning stock loose on the range the entire year, without pro- 
vision for shelter or food, we believe that the percentage of loss would be 
far less in Dakota than any where else in America. The need of provid- 
ing a rude shelter of some sort and of supplying forage, which is to be had 
for the cutting from the millions of acres of rich native grasses, is being 
impressed more strongly each year on the stock growers of the North- 
west. 

Let the stock-growers devote but an iota of the labor and expense to 
the care of their stock that is expended by the farmers of Iowa, Illinois, 
Ohio, or any state of the Union, and the raising of horses, cattle, sheep, 
and hogs in Dakota, becomes the safest and most profitable investment in 
the world. 

Native hay is to be had in abundance, and costs only a dollar or a dollar 
and a half a ton to cut and stack. 

We have described on another page how easily the root crops and tame 
grasses can be raised, and what immense yields this prolific soil returns 
for a very little labor. It is therefore criminal carelessness for the Da- 
kota farmer to neglect his stock during the winter months, as some do. 
It is with satisfaction we note the fact that the lesson taught by the in- 
clemency of last winter is being very generally heeded, and the farmers 
are showing a disposition to provide shelter and hay as required. Those 



134 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF HORSES IN DAKOTA, 1886, 
And their value in comparison with each state and territo y of the Union. 

BANK. STATES AND TER. NUMBER. VALUE. DOLLARS. 

46 RHODE ISLAND g 9,955 1,061,443 ' 

45 ARIZONA, 



44 NEW MEXICO, 



43 DELAWARE, 



42 FLORIDA, 



41 NEVADA, 



40 CONNECTICUT, 



39 IDAHO, 



NEW HAMPSHIRE, 



37 UTAH, 



MASSACHUSETTS, 



K5 SOUTH CAROLINA, 



34 VERMONT, 



33 WYOMING, 



32 NEW JERSEY, 



31 MAINE, 



30 WASHINGTON TER.. 



29 GEORGIA, 



LOUISIANA, 



27 COLORADO, 



ALABAMA, 



25 MARYLAND, 



24 MONTANA, 



23 MISSISSIPPI, 



22 WEST VIRGINIA, 



21 NORTH CAROLINA, 



20 OREGON, 



19 ARKANSAS, 



18 DAKOTA, 



17 VIRGINIA, 



16 CALIFORNIA, 



15 TENNESSEE, 



14 MINNESOTA, 
13 NEBRASKA, ~ 



12 KENTUCKY, 



11 WISCONSIN, 



10 MICHIGAN, 



PENNSYLVAI 



KANSAS, 



7 INDIANA, 



NEW YORK, 



5 MISSOURI, 



4 OHIO, 



3 IOWA, 



2 TEXAS, 



10,165 


528,580 


1 20,786 


745,944 


22,330 


2.135.491 


31,184 


2,545,222 


| 44,654 


2.462,449 


| 48,413 


4,841,242 


Hi 48,750 


2,681,250 


H 49,384 


4,143,889 


■ 56,136 


2,466,490 


HB63.916 


6,816,300 


■64,673 


5,701,926 


j§ggjfe,370 


6,780,071 


■2,500 


3,678.675 


■■ill, 648 


9,463,136 


^fii 2 ' 094 


8,167.650 


■B.237 


6,018,458 


Haft 902 


8,757,335 




6,534,952 


HBKIIE70 


7,178,918 


MM 11 iMi 


8,751.535 


E&6 


10.728,077 


■MJfefehbJOR 


6,535,088 


■ggBipo 


9,187,566 


So' 8,910,107 




10,713,012 




9,045.603 




10,495,908 




17,618,192 




M 16,725,673 




18,534,948 




19,667,265 




29,402,052 




29,349,719 




26,242,445 




32.983,234 




38.563.565 


mWtla^M3PB] 


■ 55,337,053 
42,263.123 
49,243,727 
■ 65,017,137 
44,542.180 
62,389,601 
71,926,052 
33,642,055 , 



1 ILLINOIS - ..^^1 81,152,417 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 135 

who prefer to pasture their stock, fence with barbed wire, at a cost of 
about sixty cents per rod, but as a genera] thing herds are allowed to run 
at large on the range — or in the well settled districts a boy is employed 
during the summer months to look after the herd. 

The greatest number of stock ranches within a given area are located in 
the Black Hills, and numerous herds of cattle, horses, and sheep graze 
along the numerous streams where the valleys grow the richest of grasses, 
and the mountain brooks provide an abundant supply of pure, cold water. 
The broken nature of the country offers on all hands the best of natural 
shelter for stock. 

That the Hills would prove a paradise for stock-growers was predicted 
hy the Government officer in charge of the exploring expedition sent out 
in 1875, under authority of the Secretary of the Interior. We quote from 
his valuable report: 

"The grazing in the Black Hills is most excellent. Nine-tenths of the 
whole area is covered by a thick growth of the finest wild grasses. It con- 
stitutes the great future wealth of this region, and its value can hardly be 
over-estimated. * * ' California Joe,' (one of the guides attached 
to the expedition,) said of the valley of Spring creek: 'There's gold from 
the grass roots down, but there's more gold from the grass roots up.' And 
no matter how rich the gold placers in the Black Hills may prove to be, 
the great business in this region in the future, will be stock-raising and 
dairy farming. 

"Even in the clefts of the rocks, the sides of the steep ridges, and in 
the bottoms of the deep canons, grass is found growing, depending on the 
scanty soil for its sustenance, and the little sunlight that pierces through 
the dense branches of the trees and penetrates for a short time the depths 
of the gorge. ****** 

"I had previously been engaged in explorations in western Texas and 
New Mexico, but I was surprised at the quality of the grazing we found in 
the Black Hills, which resembled the grass growing in the oak openings 
in central Texas, except that it was finer and freer from weeds and the 
coarser and less nutritious grasses. * * * 

"For the requirements of the population that the Black Hills will sup- 
port in the next twenty years, enough hay can be procured from the 
wild grasses. * * * * 

" The wind may blow a gale over the mountain tops and exposed ridges, 
but in the valleys the air will be comparatively at rest, the timber cover- 
ing the hillsides and ridges, materially contributing toward making the 
valleys warm and sheltered. This will be of great advantage to the stock 
which may be wintered in the Hills, shelter being found every where 
from sudden or severe storms. * 

"From the secluded and sheltered character of the valleys, the abund- 
ance of water, and the fine quality of the grazing, the Black Hills are well 
adapted for dairy farming, the establishment of cheese and butter factor- 
ies, and the raising and breeding of fine breeds of cattle and sheep." 



136 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

To realize the complete fulfillment of Prof. Jexmey's prophecy one has 
only to visit the Hills and look upon the many herds of sleek cattle, fine 
horses and sheep to be seen in every valley and crowning every hill top. 

The coteaus of the Missouri— a range of low hills stretching entirely 
across the Territory from the northwest to the southeast — are filled with 
brooks ani ponds of water and furnish a paradise of native forage and 
splendid protection for the stock-grower and dairyman. The same is true 
of the country along the line of the Northern Pacific railroad west of the 
Missouri river, and of the Mouse river region, and the Turtle Mountains, 
and Devils Lake country of the north; 20,000,000 acres of vacant land are 
contained within the boundaries above described — almost every section of 
which would make as fine a stock ranch or as prolific a farm as exists any- 
where. 

Even the Bad Lands — the name by which a small stretch of country 
from three to twenty-five miles wide, situated principally along the Chey- 
enne, Grand and Little Missouri rivers, is known, has proved to be the 
finest stock range in the West. The surface of this region has been 
shaped, through various causes, such as subterranean fires, the winds and 
storms of ages, into the most fanta&tic and weird-looking hills, mounds, 
columns and valleys, and has been described as " resembling the bottom 
of hell with the fires put out." 

Mr. E. V. Smalley vividly describes the marvelous scenery of the Bad 
Lands in these words : 

"The change in the scene is so startling, and the appearance of the 
landscape so wholly novel and so singularly grotesque, that you rub your 
eyes to make sure ha 1 you are not dreaming of some ancient geologic epoch, 
when the rude, unfinished earth was the sport of Titanic forces, or fancy- 
ing yourself transported to another planet. Enormous masses of con- 
glomerate — red, gray, black, brown, and blue, in towers, pyramids, peaks, 
ridges, domes, castellated heights — occupy the face of the country. In 
the spaces between are grassy, lawn-like expanses, dotted with the petri- 
fied stumps of huge trees. The finest effect of color is produced by the 
dark red rock — not rock in fact, but actual terra-cotta, baked by the heat 
of underlying layers of lignite. At some points the coal is still on fire, and 
the process of transforming mountains of blue clay into mountains of pot- 
tery may be observed from day to day. It has been going on for count- 
less ages, no doubt. To bake one of these colossal masses may have re- 
quired 10,000 years of smoldering heat. I despair of giving any adequate 
idea of the fantastic forms of the buttes or of the wonderful effects of color 
they offer. The pen and brush of a skillful artist would alone be compe- 
tent for the task. The photographer, be he never so deft with his camera 
and chemicals, only be-littles these marvelous views. He catches only 
bare outlines, without color, and color is the chief thing in the picture. 
He cannot get the true effect of distance, and his negatives show only 
staring blacks and whites in place of the infinite variations of light and 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 137 

shadow effects in valleys and gorges and hollows, and upon crags and pin- 
nacles. Look, if you can, by the feeble aid of written words, upon a sin- 
gle butte, and see how impossible it is to photograph it satisfactorily. It 
rises from a carpet of green grass. Its base has a bluish hue, and appears 
to be clay solidified by enormous pressure. It is girdled by 1 ands of 
light gray stone, and black Tgnite coal. Its upper portion is of the rich, 
red color of old Egyptian pottery. Crumbled fragments strew its sides. 
Its summit, rising 300 feet above the plain, has teen carved by the ele- 
ments into turrets, battlements, sharp spires, grotesque gargoyles, and 
huge projecting buttresse s — an amazing jumble of weird architectural ef- 
fects, that startle the eye with sue gesl ions of intelligent design. Above, 
the sky is wonderfully clear and blue, the rays of the setting sun spread a 
rosy tint over the crest, and just above its highest tower floats a little 
flame-colored cloud like a banner. When I say there are thousands of 
these buttes, the reader will perceive that the Bad Lands of the Little 
Missouri are a region of extraordinary interest to the tourist and artist." 

The country is full of such plateaus, and in the valleys is found the 
best of protection for stock. 

Mr. A. T. Packard, editor of the Bad f ands Cow Boy. writes as follows 
of this region: "There is a very general opinion in different parts of the 
country, that the Bad Lands are the most sterile and uninhabitable region 
on the face of the earth. The writer well remembers the impression of 
them he obtained in his very youthful days from the study of Guyot's 
geography. To the stock-raiser and coal miner, however, this is the king 
country of the world. In no other place are there to be found so many 
favorable conditions for the raising of stock. Bunch and buffalo grass 
cover almost every inch of the ground. 1 he raw sides of buttes are the only 
places where splendid.grazing cannot be found. On many of the buttes, 
however, the grass grows clear to the summit, the slopes being the favor- 
ite pasture lands of the cattle. Generally no hay need be cut, as the grass 
cures standing, and keeps the cattle in as <:ood condition all winter as if 
they were stall fed. The only reason for putting up hay is to avoid a 
scarcity of feed in case of heavy snow. This very seldom happens, how- 
ever, as very little snow falls in the Bad Lands. In spite of the numer- 
ous cuts of the railroad there never has been a blockade in the Bad 
Lands, although they are common over all the rest of the road. A curi- 
ous fact with cattle is that the ones that have been here a year or two, and 
know how to rustle, will turn away from a stack of hay, paw away the 
snow from the grass, and feed on that exclusively. Even in the dead of 
winter a meadow has a very perceptible tinge of green." 

The rapid increase of fine stock in the Territory and the tendency to 
improve the grades by importing high-bred animals is very noticeable of 
late years. In those sections of Dakota Fettled for any length of time the 
numerous herds of Herefords, Polled Angus, Shorthorns, Holsteins or Jer- 
sey cattle, Percheron, Cl\ desdale or English shire draft horses, speed 



138 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

animals of excellent pedigree, and well-bred mules, sheep and swine, bear 
testimony to the fact that the Dakota farmer appreciates the value of 
breeding high classed stock. At the Territorial fairs (one held in north 
Dakota and one in the south) and the different fairs of the various coun- 
ties, the display of fine stock called forth the wonder and admiration of 
the Eastern visitor, who w T as forced to admit that as respects her graded 
stock Dakota is not excelled by many of the old states. The indications 
are that in a few years the -Territory will have built up a world-wide rep- 
utation for the good quality of its horses. The farmers are realizing that 
it costs but little more to raise a high-class oraft animal than an ordinary 
scrub, and everywhere one hears of the importation of the best grades of 
brood mares and finest pure bred stallions. Farm work requires heavy 
draft horses and the intelligent farmer understands the value of crossing 
with the large and powerful French, English, or Scotch breeds. It will 
not be long until Dakota will ship to the East a breed of horses unequaled 
in energy, form and endurance. 

AVith so favorable surroundings for the profitable carrying on of the 
enterprise it is somewhat difficult to explain satisfactorily why our people 
have delayed until very recently the business of sheep-growing. 

Those who have engaged in this branch of the stock business are re- 
markably well satisfied with the venture. It is asserted that in no other 
country have better results followed the growing of sheep than in Da- 
kota. The absence of swamps, and damp, rainy seasons, give- security 
from the foot-rot, scab and other diseases so fatal to sheep. 

The following extract, from ■> publication, well known, an authority on 
stock matters, will be of interest to all who contemplate the handling of 
sheep: 

" Ten years ago there were literally no flocks of sheep in Dakota. It is 
true that the great bulk of southern Dakota was not then settled; but 
there was a tier of counties along the Missouri river on the south, and Big 
Sioux valley on the eastern border that was settled; and, although the 
uniform weather and dry winter atmosphere were known to be favorable 
to sheeD-raising and wool-growing, little or no effort was made to intro- 
duce sheep. About ten years ago the German-Russians began settling in 
southern Dakota and they at once introduced sheep husbandry and made 
it a success. The kinds now kept are largely Merino, but occasionally a 
flock of South Downs or Leicesters is found. The flocks are generally 
healthy and the fleeces fairly heavy. Wool finds a ready market in any 
of the larger towns in the Territory, and is mostly shipped East. Nu- 
merous woolen manufactories are springing up in Dakota, but the produc- 
tion is greatly in advance of the home market. Fortunately, wool is one 
of the products of the farm that will bear shipping for a considerable dis- 
tance. Mutton is in good demand and brings a fair price. It is possible 
the larger framed sheep of Canada would be more profitable. They are 
hardy, and, when full grown and fattened, a carcass frequently weighs from 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 139 

100 to 125 pounds. The climate of this section makes the flocks exceed- 
ingly prolific. It is an easy thing to accumulate a large flock of sheep in 
a few years. 

'* Sheep are herded in summer in the same manner as horned cattle, 
and not unfrequently by the same person — especially if the flock of sheep 
be small and the herd of cattle i,^ not large. In winter the flocks are pro- 
vided with corrals and sheds for protection from storms, and are fed with 
the wild hay of the prairie, upon which they subsist without grain. It is 
no doubt true that with better c ire of the flocks the profit of sheep hus- 
bandry would not only be surer, but greater. But the first settlers in any 
country are seldom prepared to obtain the best results from their labors, 
for want of time and means to Droperly provide for their flocks and herds. 
Notwithstanding all the lack of facilities for caring for stock by the pio- 
neers of southern Dakota, sheep-raising has proved a profitable industry, 
and one that in the near future will be largely increased " 

Mr. A. S. Hall, a farmer of Hand county, encourages his neighbors to a 
deeper interest in sheep-raising, and says: 

" I have never lost a single sheep from disease and rarely more than 
two per cent, from any cause during a year. My greatest loss has always 
been of old ewes, as I was always looking more to the increase of my 
flock thai; per centum of loss. Began the winter of 1886-7 with 3i5 of all 
ages, at least fifteen of the number belonging to the class of ' relics.' I 
fed during the winter the headed straw from about 100 acres of wheat, 
twenty-five acres of millet hav, and twenty tons of weedy, wild hay, that 
was not fit for other stock. No grain whatever. The account is about as 
follows: 

RECEIPTS. 

Wool, 2,547 pounds at 20 cents 1510 40 

Lambs, 140 at $2 280 00 

Pelts, 5 at $1 5 00 

Total : $795 40 

EXPENDITURES. 

Millet hay, $4 per acre 100 00 

Straw and wild hay 75 00 

Labor .-.' 25 00 

Interest on investment, including shed 100 00 

Total $300 00 

Balance 495 40 

A report is received from the owner of a herd of 1,800 sheep who 
brought his flock through the past winter— the severest known for years 
— without the loss of a single one. 

In the Black Hills many ranches are devoted exclusively to sheep rais- 
ing, and with the most satisfactory results. 



140 EESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF MULES IN DAKOTA, 1886, 
And their value, in comparison with each statu and territory of the Union. 

RANK. STATES ANI) TEH. NUMBER. VALUE. DOLLARS. 



40 WAS HINGTON TEH.. | 1,231 102.247 

39 NEVADA, 1,657 121,251 



38 ARIZONA, 



37 IDAHO, 



36 WYOMING, 



35 OREGON, 



34 UTAH, 



33 DELAWARE, 



32 NEW YORK, 



31 MICHIGAN. 



311 WEST VIRGINIA, 



29 WISCONSIN. 



28 COLORADO. 



MONTANA, 



2G NEW JERSEY. 



25 MINNESOTA, 



24 NEW MEXICO. 



23 FLORIDA, 



22 DAK0TA,=S3Di 



21 MARYLAND, 



20 PENNSYLVANIA, 



19 OHIO. 



18 VIRGINIA. 



17 CALIFORNIA. 



16 NEBRASKA. 
15 IOWA, 



14 INDIANA, 



13 SOUTH CAROLINA, 



12 LOUISIANA. 



11 KANSAS, 



10 NORTH CAROLINA, 



9 ARKANSAS, 



KENTUCKY. 



7 ILLINOIS. 



6 ALABAMA, 



5 GEORGIA, 



4 MISSISSIPPI, 



3 TEXAS, 



1,863 


] 37,862 


2,436 


210,714 


2,850 


198 887 


3,155 


229.086 


Hi 3,579 


215,082 


4,061 


480,130 


HBt 5 ' 158 


571 ,860 


■I 5,486 


556,208 


BH 6,540 


495.399 


8,010 


754,877 


1 8,165 


685,224 


\ 9,229 


662,181 


HUH 3,407 


1,136,749 


HSBSl 0,447 


1,036,624 


^^L0 912 


520,501 


MUIUIl.789 


1,107,284 


H^ffil-964 


(,(94,622 


HHK&358 


1,284,544 


HBBH>(370 


2,615,691 


HHE£3479 


2,153,571 


nkiM^™ 


3,058.096 


nmm^ 84 


3.035.912 


mmamssB^s 


3,716,460 


SEfe 4,186,822 


4,495,201 


StM/SBm 6.888.383 




6,876.876 


MlJiaiMLUiaffSalB 


7.320,901 


Pfflffiffl^lffftffiBl 6.994.096 


?,■ i^Y ., ■;, :-r=S , , '_';'-; ' ; ■-.■', 


8,566.439 
8.883,535 
10,476,670 
11,194.624 
13.980,552 
12.953.958 
9,037,232 




HH 13,521,572 



2 TEN NESS 

1 MIsSSSliD ^9,633 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 141 

From the indications of the present season, Dakota will soon be enti- 
tled to as prominent a rank in the list of states and territories with regard 
to mutton and the wool clip as she now takes when other farm products 
are considered. 

Probably there is no one line of farming ventures in the Territory' 
which has received the sudden enlargement of patrons and investments : 
as that of the sheep business. Especially is this true of the counties of 
the Black Hills, those bordering the Missouri river and sections of north 
Dakota, 

Many herds were shipped into the Territory during the past summer, 
and it is evident that there has been a widespread education of the farm- 
ers to the advantages of raising sheep in connection with the usual farm 
operations of the prairie. 

For 1886 — a very disastrous season to stock men — the losses of sheep in 
Dakota were but 6 per cent., while in some of the states they were as 
high as 11, 12 and 13 per cent. 

The rapid expansion, during the year or two past of the area planted to 
corn has naturally carried with it a marked growth in the number of hogs 
on the farms of Dakota. From January 1st, 1886, to January 1st, 1887, 
this increase amounted to 20 per cent. — the undoubted result of the en- 
largement of the corn fields of the Territory. 

In 1880 there were but 63,394 hogs in Dakota— a number which had in- 
creased to 427,176 in 18S6— or nearly 700 per cent. 

Hogs do well on the native grasses during the summer and the fall, and 
throughout the year are remarkably free from the complaints' usually af- 
fecting swine. Hog cholera is a disease unknown in the Territory. The 
losses for swine for the year ending January 1st, 1887, were 6 per cent. — 
being less than occurred in twenty-five of the states, where the losses ran 
all the way from 6.5 to 27 per cent. 

For many years the growers of stock will find a good demand at home 
for the surplus of their herds. 

The building of railways and the rush of immigration furnish a constant 
demand for mules and draft horses. Every day witnesses the importa- 
tion of many car loads of work horses into Dakota from neighboring states 
— horses, the sale and profit of which should be realized by our own 
farmers. 

Dairies and creameries are springing up in every locality, and have in- 
creased the value of milch cows in their vicinity, at least twenty-five per 
cent. 

There is a strong demand for heifers for breeding purposes, oxen for 
farm work and fat steers for beef. 

Pork-packing establishments are increasing in number, and find a ready 
market at home for every article manufactured. 

The mining districts of the Black Hills and the military posts and In- 
dian agencies require immense quantities of beef and hog products, the 
greater portion of which is now brought in from abroad. 



142 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Following are the views of some of the noted stock-growers of the North- 
west on the question of mixed farming, the advantage of the climate, the 
richness of our native grasses, the relative profits of raising cattle and 
horses, etc., etc. 

Dr. C. J. Alloway, Territorial veterinary surgeon, who has some fine 
herds on his farm, near Grand Forks, says: 

" Phenomenal as has been the growth of wheat culture in Dakota, it is 
admitted on all sides that the cattle industry bids fair to more than equal it 
in the rapidity with which it is taking hold. The experiments of a few 
practical men in the past three or four years have so fully demonstrated 
the adaptability of the country to this industry, that those acquainted 
with these facts did not hesitate to make the breeding of live stock either 
an important part of their agricultural undertaking, or, as hundreds have 
done, an absolute specialty of it. 

'■' It has been pointed out that these vast grazing areas of the Northwest 
were the natural feeding grounds of the American buffalo, and it is reason- 
able to presume that this was the case from the fact of their being so ad- 
mirably adapted to that end. Had ihis soil not been fertile, abundantly 
productive, and its grasses nutritive, this page in Dakota's history would 
certainly have been wanting. A combination of circumstances have con- 
tributed largely toward the opening up and advancement of the live stock 
interests of Dakota and Minnesota Chief among which are the quantity 
and quality of the wild grasses to be met with everywhere, the purity 
and abundance of the water, the ease with which root crops of all kinds 
can be grown, the favorable conditions of the climate, and a steady and 
increasing demand for beef, butter, cheese and milk. Another, and an 
important consideration had not a little to do with this comparatively new 
venture in agriculture in Dakota, namely: The fact that the great major- 
ity was depending solely upon the production of one article. It matters 
not whether that product brought a high price or a low one, the denizen 
of Dakota always had to pay top prices for all the necessaries of life, not 
excepting flour. Pork, beef and provisions of every kind had to be ship- 
ped in, and, as in the case in all newly-opened regions where communi- 
cation is imperfect and more or less difficult, provisions were necessarily 
hard to procure, and correspondingly high in price. Chicago furnished 
us with beef, pork, canned meats, at prices that were always high and 
that varied little, while the same commercial center bought our grain at 
figures that harmonized w T ith the caprices of the most powerful wheat 
ring on earth. To put this in another light, the farmer of Dakota invaria- 
bly disposed of his wheat at the lowest market price, whereas he pur- 
chased meats and other commodities, that he could as readily grow as 
wheat, at the highest figure. 

" The agriculturist of the Northwest has seen the error of his ways, and 
as a consequence is branching more or less extensively into mixed farm- 
ing, and a great many that have the capital are going solely into the 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 143 

growing of live stock. Evidence of this radical change is apparent in 
every county in north Dakota, and, no doubt, is the same in the central 
and southern portion. * * 

"Prominent among the auxiliary enterprises developed by the growth 
of the live stock industry of the Northwest, is the establishment of the 
St. Paul Union stock yards, at South St. Paul, and the organization of a 
stock company of a similar nature at Minneapolis; the former with a capi- 
tal of one and a half millions and the latter of one million dollars. 

"The plant in the St. Paul Union stock yards is of the finest and most 
improved, and their entire equipment is unsurpassed in any country. 
This company has not only mammoth slaughtering, packing and render- 
ing houses, but has large buildings for feeding and bringing to perfection 
animals that are not yet ready for market. Elevators, feed-carriers > hand- 
some offices, a bank and hotel, also form part of this important adjunct to 
the live stock intere sts of Dakota. 

"The Minneapolis yards will also be on a very large and costly scale. 
Ground has already been broken and the various buildings are in course 
of erection. These stock yards are intended to be second to none in point, 
of accommodation and convenience, and will be ready for operation in 
the spring of 1888. To the cattle, sheep, and hog growers of the great 
Northwest these extensive establishments are of paramount importance, 
and are a substantial evidence of the views held by the capitalists of these 
two great Weatern cities of what they expect of the live stock traffic of 
this favored land of ours. 

" Heretofore the grower of beef, pork, or mutton was compelled to ship 
his produce to Chicago or Kansas City, whereas in the future he can al- 
ways find a ready market at one or the' other of the twin cities. And he 
will further have the benefits of competing markets in close proximity to 
each other. 

" While Minneapolis is to-day the greatest flour emporium in the world, 
in less than ten short years her packing business is certain to equal, if it 
does not surpass, that of her wheat and flour. The coming decade will 
bring more marvelous changes to the farmer of Dakota in the matter of 
live stock than did the heretofore unparalleled increase in the production 
of wheat." 

The preparation under way on so vast a scale, by the cities of St. Paul 
and Minneapolis, with the purpose of controlling apart of Dakota's heavy 
and increasing traffic in live stock, is being repeated with even more 
energy and investment, if possible, by a very near neighbor, also a suc- 
cessful bidder for a share in the division of the live stock interests here- 
tofore so largely in the hands of Chicago, viz. : Sioux City, Iowa. The 
Union stock yards of Sioux City, although of recent establishment, trans- 
act a daily business, during the shipping season, exceeding $30,00.0. 
Every facility science and experience has invented for the proper and 
easy handling of stock, is here provided, including banks, hotels, offices, 



144 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF HOGS IN DAKOTA, 1886, 
And their value, in comparison with each state and territory of the Union. 



RANK. STATES AND TEK. 


NUMBER. 


VALUE. DOLLARS. 


47 WYOMING, 


2,750 


17.596- 


46 ARIZONA, 


1 13,700 


54,804 


45 RHODE ISLAND 


14,107 


130,130 


44 NEVADA, 


14,543 


77,r?9 


43 MONTANA, 


20,263 


119,163 


42 NEW MEXICO, 


20 990 


131,505 


41 COLORADO, 


21,290 


146,424 


40 IDAHO, 


28.100 


147,525 


39 UTAH, 


28.656 


237,052 


38 DELAWARE. 


m 42,654 


304,977 


37 NEW HAMPSHIRE, 


53,860 


504, ?38 


36 CONNECTICUT, 


61,164 


538,245 


35 MAINE, 


71,056 


611,080 


34 VERMONT, 


| 74,856 


589,688 


33 MASSACHUSETTS. 


filial 76,840 


775,319 


32 WASHINGTON TER.. 


jPffjjl 90,152 


384,094 


31 NEW JERSEY. 


1.574,526 


30 OREGON, 


iPPSs 5 ' 879 


656.523 


29 MARYLAND, 


1.789,077 


28 FLORIDA, 


m 8,108 


729,768 


27 MINNESOTA, 


g|,918 


1,943,730 


26 DAKOTA, 


» 176 


2,314,013 


25 WEST VIRGINIA, 


'JI&778 


1,780,448 


24 SOUTH CAROLINA. |g- 


fa. 66 


2,068,625 


23 LOUISIANA. 


1,754,567 


22 NEW YORK, 


JgB8 

®8 


5,145,331 


21 VIRGINIA, 


3,237,570 


20 MICHIGAN, 


4,794,419 


19 INDIAN TER., 


2,210,000 


18 WISCONSIN. 




5 314.284 


17 CALIFORNIA, 




3,841.409 


16 PENNSYLVANIA. - > 




7,750,178 


15 MISSISSIPPI, 


3,345,516 


14 NORTH CAROLLNAjB 




4,286,700 


13 ALABAMA, 




3 882 703 


12 GEORGIA, 




4.405,098 


11 ARKANSAS, 


4,030 203 


10 KENTUCKY, 


■'...,,-'■.'.■'•'•'." ■J ■^^.■■'■■■■^■:r-':f 


6,905,247 


9 TENNESSEE, | 




5,022,181 


8 KANSAS, 


• 


11.055.240 


7 OHIO, 


12,067,882 


6 nebraskJSH 


13.073,336 


5 INDIANAgf 




13,396,880 


4 TEXAS, H 


SS^^i^^E 


7,090,476 


3 LLLiijBi^a^BMpB 


8^19,997,572 


2 BBSpi mb^bm 




■QKE32Q7 


BtBISlSKlHB^MMHiiBiillUlBB 







RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. . 145 

ample yards, arrangements for feeding, housing, loading and unloading, etc. 

The six beef and pork-packing establishments of Sioux City, repre- 
sent an outlay, covering the several plants, of more than a million dollars, 
with a capacity to prepare for market, daily, 1,500 head of beef cattle and 
15,000 hogs, and transact a yearly business amounting to the enormous 
sum of $23,000,000. 

These heavy investments made by the cities of St. Paul and Minne- 
apolis to handle the live stock shipped from the northern counties, and 
by Sioux City as a market for the beef and hogs of south Dakota, is of 
itself the weightiest proof of the rapid increase in the number of farm 
animals in the Territory. 

Extract from a speech delivered at St. Paul by President J. J. Hill, of 
the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railway, himself a breeder of fine 
stock ■ *.#*'**'***■* 

"A few years ago it was said a man was pretty far from home when he 
was where he could not raise corn. Now a man goes a good way from 
home and finds he can raise corn. It is hard to say what you can and 
what you can not raise. There is one thing the people lose sight of when 
they undertake to feed cattle — th<tt tkey can do it without corn. The highest 
price paid in the world for cattle sold on the hoof, is in a country where 
they never raise an ear of corn, and don't feed it. That is in the north- 
east of Scotland, in the county of Aberdeen. They send their animals to 
market in better condition, and get 1 cent or three-quarters ofacenta 
pound, at least, more for them than for any other cattle in the market, and 
they cannot raise corn. 

" In addition to raising wheat, which has heretofore been our leading 
agricultural product, the farmer can put in another crop that will be even 
more profitable. For the last four years I have been raising cattle. I 
feed my steers on grass, roots and cabbage, a little ground oats and oil 
cake, and the last two weeks of feeding I give them a handful of cheap 
brown sugar if they do not eat their food up clean. Last December I sent 
four steers to Chicago to compete in the stock show with 600 fat cattle 
from other states, and states that make a business of feeding cattle. 

" 1 took the sweepstakes prize for the best two-year-old and then killed 
and dressed him. He dressed at 1,354 pounds, and he dressed 71.4 per 
cent, of his gross weight, and that was better than any other steer ever 
seen in Chicago. Then the butchers came and didn't know whose ox was 
being gored, so they were unbiased. They gave me the first prize for the 
best carcass of dressed meat, the first prize for the largest percentage of 
edible food in the carcass, the first prize for largest per cent, of dressed 
meat to the live steer, the first prize for the best meat, and the gold 
medal. I took those prizes w T ith four steers in competition with about 
600. I fed little or no corn. I fed them cabbage, turnips and ground 
oats. My farm had been cultivated for twenty-five years, and was pretty 
poor land. 



146 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

" I sowed my turnips with a drill, cultivated them twice, thinned them 
out and, when ripe, cut off the tops with a hoe. It cost 812.80 per acre to 
raise them, and I got 860 bushels to the acre, the cost being less than one 
and one-half cents to the bus! id. Now, the daily rations for 100 steers— and 
one man can take care of 100 steers — consist first of 1,000 pounds of hay at 
$3 per ton. There will be also 4.200 pounds of roots, or seventy bushels, 
at two centsabushel — and mine didn't cost one and one-half cents a bushel, 
and were raised on poor soil . Next come 400 pounds of ground grain at one 
cent per pound, and 200 pounds of oil-cake at §20 per ton. The total ra- 
tions then, for 100 steers for one day are 5,800 pounds of feed (or fifty-eight 
pounds for each animal), which costs $8.90, or 801 for ninety days. Now, 
good stockers three and one-half years old, average weight 1,150 pounds, 
can be bought for three cents a pound, or 83,450 for the herd of 100, mak- 
ing the total investment in feed and steers $4,251. Now, 100 steers should 
gain 250 pounds each during the ninety days, making their average weight 
1,400 pounds, or a total of 140,000 pounds, which, at four and one-half 
cents a pound would be $6,300. The manure from these animals is worth 
one-third the whole cost of the feed. It would be cheap at $267. So we 
would show a total on the credit side of §6,567, or a profit of §2,316; §23.16 
to each animal for three months. 

" The following is the above information in a tabulated form: 

Daily rations for 100 steers — 

1,000 lbs. hay @ §3 per ton §1.50 

4,200 lbs. roots, 70 bu. @ 2 cents per bu 1.40 

400 lbs. ground grain, @ 1 cent per lb 4.00 

200 lbs. oil-cake @ §20 per ton 2.00 

5,800 lbs, for one day's rations, cost §8.90 

Rations for ninety days, cost 801.00 

100 steers, 1,150 lbs, each, @ 3 cent cost 3,450.00 

Total cost §4,251.00 

100 steers, 1,400 lbs. ea , @ 4} cents sell for 6,300.00 

Add one-third cost of feed for manure 267.00 

Total amount of sales §6,567.00 

Profit 2,316.00 

From an article published in the Northwestern Farmer and Breeder, 
Fargo, Dak., this additional testimony, concerning the profits of stock- 
growing in the Northwest, is taken: 

" A set of Fairbank's farm scales were put up in a convenient place and 
in the spring of 1884, when turning into pasture for the summer, (May 
1st,) all the stock except the new milch and calf-bearing cows were 
weighed. For identification I used the Dana ear tag, and when weighed 
on November 1st, the day we commenced barn-feeding, I found the ag- 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



147 



TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF SHEEP IN DAKOTA, 1886, 
And their value in comparison with « ach state and territory of the Union. 



HANK. STATES AND TE.i. 


NUMBER. 


VALUE. DOLLARS. 


IHODE ISLAND 




20,245 


73,540 


45 DELAWARE, 


22,294 


05,377 


44 CONNECTICUT, 


53,477 


187,474 


43 MASSACHi SETTS 


63,270 


211,164 


42 FLORIDA, 


90,183 


160,886 


41 NEW JERSEY, 


106,339 


381,013 



40 SOUTH CAROLINA, 



S : 



108,418 



166,314 



39 LOUISIANA. 



33 MARYLAND, 



37 NEW HAMPSHIRE, 



ARKANSAS, 



35 IDAHO, 



34 MISSISSIPPI, 



33 DAKOTA, 



32 MINNESOTA, 



31 ALABAMA, 



30 VERMONT, 
29 IOWA. 



28 NEBRASKA. 



27 VIRGINIA. 



26 NORTH CAROLINA. 



25 GEORGIA, 



24 MAINE, 



23 WYOMING, 



22 WASHINGTON TER.. 



21 TENNESSEE, 



20 WEST VIRGINIA, 



19 ARIZONA, 



18 UTAH, 



17 NEVADA, 



16 MONTANA, 



15 KENTUCKY, 



14 ILLINOIS, 



13 INDIANA, 



12 WISCONSIN, 



11 PENNSYLVANIA. 



10 KANSAS, 



9 COLORADO, 



8 MISSOURI. 



7 NEW YORK. 



6 MICHIGAN, 



5 OREGON, 



NEW 



3 OHIO. 



j^TE 
1 



SklilFO-KNIA 



111,730 



173,015 



165,210 


544.383 


195,260 


539,894 


224,660 


341,933 


231,413 


520,679 


1 2*42,971 


348,664 


| 256,209 


623,100 


278,162 


655,239 


323,565 


458,071 


■ 378,174 


1,061,459 


B 425,498 


1,020,515 


H 439,700 


844,004 


H 449,233 


1,034,134 


1 450,063 


576,081 


9 465,552 


659,780 


i 526,659 


1,470,695 


U 534,020 


1,047 480 


■ 555,439 


1.110.878 


H561,515 


846,877 


BH693.666 


1,297.042 


B$27,201 


1,003,522 


Bft!@58,285 


1.343,692 


^4,486 


1,153,371 


Sk,688 


1,762,197 


&' 062 


1,997.569 


M$^j,201 


2,260,359 


1|091 


2.567,131 


jj&Eipg544 


2 230,462 


Hwld8|ft23 


3,072,859 


MJi!t^2 


1.939,758 


jgEgMT8 


1,845,579 


wmiikizkx>M2 


1,968,838 


MBbVablSfe 


5,213,558 


5.485.187 


3,670.173 




5,958,098 
[ 11,533,675 



7,718,928 
1,192 



148 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

gregate gain in the 153 days, of sixty-three head, to be 20,055 pounds, an 
average of two and one-twelfth pounds per day, or 318f pounds per head. 
Analyzing the record I ascertained that the yearling steers, (fourteen 
head,) had gained 60 4-5 per cent, on their spring weights; four head of 
two-year-olds, 47 per cent.; and five three-year-olds, 31 percent.; twenty- 
one yearling heifers, 85 per cent.; nine two-year-olds, 52| per cent.; and 
ten barren cows, 27 2-5 per cent. The general average gain of the lot was 
47 4-5 per cent. Thus I obtained an answer to my first question. 

" Eight head of milch cows were put in a small fenced field of some 
thirty acres, that during the entire grazing season afforded more than 
the needed supply of grass, from which I was satisfied that three acres 
per head was sufficient for summer pasture. The second question was 
answered. 

"In passing, let me say that our pastures are entirely of native grass, 
good until October 1st, when failing somewhat, the stock is brought into 
the yards at night, given some corn fodder and allowed free access to ricks 
of freshly threshed oat straw; but with the exception of our pure-breds 
we have never put our stock of cattle in barn for either shelter or feed 
until the 1st of November. * * * * * * 

"The question, which pays the best, horses or cattle, naturally comes 
to the front. My records give me some figures upon which to work, and 
from them I make up the following: 

" Firs'. Five head of 1883 steer calves from native heifers by a pure- 
bred short-horn bull, show an aggregate weight, May 17, ,1884, of 2,320 
pounds; November 1, 1885, 5,515 pounds. 

" On pasture during the summers of 1884 and 1885, for which I allow three 
acreseach, each year, I charge, use of thirty acres at $5 per acre, 8 percent., 
$12. In the barns, from November 1, 1883, to April 30, 1884, and Novem- 
ber 1, 1884, to April 30, 1885, cost of winter feed, labor, and interest on 
cost of building $10.50 each, each winter, in all, $106. 

Total cost of the five head $118.00 

Their value Nov. 1, 1885, 5,515 lbs. at 3§ 192.97 

Showing profit of (63 per cent.) $ 74.97 

"Second. Among my purchases in May, 1880, was a large, fine, seven- 
eighths bred short-horn cow, then in calf by a pare bred bull, for which 
I paid $100. For convenience, I named her Fatty. May 1, 1885, we have: 

Fatty, then in calf, valued at $ 75 

Fatty 2d, on 1880 calf, in calf May 1, 1885 75 

Fatty 3d, on 1881 calf, in calf May 1, 1885 :. 75 

Fatty 4th, on 1882 calf, in calf May 1, 1885 65 

Fatty 5th, on 1883 calf, heifer 50 

Fatty 6th, on 1884 calf, heifer 35 

Fatty, steer, on 1883 calf, from Fatty 2d 35 

Fatty, steer, on 1884 calf, from Fatty 3d 25 

In all, eight animals valued at $435 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 149 

" My estimated cost of keep on the lot to May 1, 1885, was $240; shrink- 
age in value on the old cow, $25; profit $170. Sixty-four ner cent, in aver- 
age of two and one-half years, about 26 per cent, per year. 

" Third. In June, 1880, I purchased two good, common mares, .one in 
foal, that cost, Jaid down at the farm, $340. On the first of December, 
1885, I find the two mares in foal by our pure bred French draft stallion, 

Valued at $ 300 

One colt in 1881, sold in 1884 for 200 

Two colts in 1882, sold in 1885 for 300 

Two colts in 1883, sold in 1885 for 335 

Two colts in 1884, on hand, valued at 225 

Two colts in 1885, on hand, valued at 100 

The total valuation amounting to $1,460 

" During the five and one-half years these mares were steadily at work, 
both summer and winter, more than earning their keep, but charging up 
their keep as if kept only as brood mares, the debits would be about as 
follows: 
Keep of mares and colts, including labor and interest on cost of 

buildings $420 

Shrinkage on the old mares 40 

Total cost $460 

" A clear profit of $1,000, 217 per cent, on an average of not to exceed 

three years." 
The total number of farm animals in the United States as compared with 

the figures of last year, are as follows: 



Stock. 



1886. 



188; 



Increase or 
decrease. 



Horses 12,077,657 12,496,744 

Mules 2,052,593 2,117,141 

Milch cows 14,235,388 14,522,083 

Oxen and other cattle 31,275,242 33,511,750 

Sheep 48,322,331 44,759,314 

Swine 46,092,043 44,612,836 



+ 



+ 



419,087 
64,548 

286,695 
2,236,508 
3,563,017 
1,479,207 



The average values of ten years past are given in the table below. 



Years 



Other 



Horses Mules Cows .ot+ip Sheep Swine 



1878. 
1879. 
1880. 
1881. 
1882. 
1883. 
1884. 
1885. 
1886. 
1887. 



| 58 16 


52 41 


54 75 


58 44 


58 52 


70 59 


74 64 


73 70 


71 27 


72 15 



63 
56 

61 
69 
71 
79 
84 
82 
71) 
78 



70 $ 

06 

26 

79 

35 

49 

22 

38 

60 

91 



26 41 


| 17 14 


$ 2 25 


21 73 


15 39 


2 07 


23 27 


16 10 


2 21 


23 1)5 


17 33 


2 39 


25 89 


19 89 


2 37 


30 21 


21 SO 


2 53 


31 37 


23 52 


2 37 


29 70 


23 25 


2 14 


27 40 


21 17 


1 91 


26 08 


19 79 


2 01 



4 98 

3 18 

4 28 
4 70 



5 98 

6 75 
5 57 
5 02 
4 25 
4 48 



150 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

DAIRY PRODUCTS. 

The excellent quality of native forage results in the production of as 
sweet milk and butter as can be found in the world. The yield of milk is 
in excess of what one would expect from prairie fed cows and the quantity 
and quality are kept up through the season with a constancy quite sur- 
prising. This follows, undoubtedly, from the rich and nutritious proper- 
ties of the buffalo and gramma grasses, and from the fact that the prairie 
forage cures upon the ground, retaining its strengthening qualities the 
year round. 

X. A. Willard, of Little Falls, New York, a standard authority on dairy- 
ing, in his work, " Practical Dairy Husbandry," says: 

"The great American dairy belt lies between the fortieth and forty- 
fifth parallels of latitude. 

-x- -X- *'*•''** 

" The characteristics of a good dairy country are high, undulating sur- 
faces; numerous springs and streams of never-failing water; a soil reten- 
tive of moisture; a sweet and nutritious herbage that springs up spontan- 
eously and continues to grow with great tenacity; a rather low average 
temperature; frequent showers rather than periodical droughts; and suf- 
ficent covering of the ground in winter, to protect grass roots so that the 
herbage may be permanent or enduring. * * * 

" In my opinion, upon this Northern belt of dairy lands, there is no de- 
scription of farming promises better prospect of remuneration than the 
dairy." 

It costs but little to keep milch cows in Dakota. The ranges are bound- 
less in summer and hay or root crops for winter feeding cost but a trifle. 
Farmers are turning their attention more and more to the enlargement of 
their herds and as a result are deriving no small part of their income from 
the sale of milk and its products. In 1880 Dakota produced 2,000,955 
pounds of butter, 39,437 pounds of cheese and 415,119 gallons of milk. 
Five years afterwards these amounts had increased to 10,804,260 pounds of 
butter, 116,557 pounds of cheese and 1,860,358 gallons of milk, while the 
number of milch cows on the farm, had increased almost 500 per cent. 

The growing interest among the farmers in stock raising and their ap- 
preciation of the profits to be derived from a herd of cows has led to the 
establishment of a great number of creameries and cheese factories in 
different sections of the Territory. These factories send out cream w T agons 
and gather the cream from a wide area of country — paying the farmer for 
it a price equivalent to about a shilling a pound for butter. 

A creamery will use, as a general thing, the milk from a thousand or 
more cows, scattered among the hundreds of farmers of the vicinity. 

Dakota, with advantages similar to her neighbor on the east, Minnesota, 
where the farmers of the southern and central portion have been lifted 
from poverty to prosperity by that great mortgage lifter, the cow, is des- 
tined to become one of the greatest dairy states of the Union. When 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 151 

our farmers, without exceptions, keep cows, sell butter, cream and cheese 
and raise stock in connection with their farming operations — then indeed 
is the prosperity of the Territory assured. 

Comfortable homes, large barns and the ability to meet every obligation 
are the rewards to the farmers who take a part of the investment from 
the wheat fields and expend it in cattle, horses, cows, sheep or hogs. 

Hon. Norman J. Coleman, the present United States Commissioner of 
Agriculture, is with us in our endeavors to impress on the minds of the 
new comer that in mixed farming lies the surest road to success. These 
are his words in a recent address to farmers: 

" Go to the great state of New York, the New England states, to Iowa, 
Minnesota, and other states, and as you travel through the country you 
can tell when you come to the dairy region. There you see the finest 
residences, the most comfortable and best equipped stables and buildings, 
the best fences, the best surroundings, and if you can get into the bank 
you will find the largest bank accounts credited to the dairymen. Their 
farms, in the East, are worth from one hundred to two hundred dollars 
per acre, notwithstanding the long winters, when they are compelled, on 
account of the severity of the weather, with the thermometer sometimes 
down to thirty or forty degrees below zero, to feed so many months of 
the year." 



WOOL CROP. 



lbs. 

1870 _ _j 8 ,810 

157,025 



152 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



MINERAL RESOURCES. 



We have at present but a faint idea of the real extent and importance 
of Dakota's mineral wealth, owing to the lack of Government surveys 
and the comparatively short time the Territory has been settled. The 
average Dakotaian has been engaged in the work of earning a home, and 
in efforts to bring the surroundings up to a standard of civilization para- 
mount to that of the locality whence he came; he has had but little 
time or inclination to study out what might be" : hid away beneath the 
earth's surface. However, enough has already been discovered, (and 
these discoveries have been more in the way of an accident than the re- 
sult of any systematic or learned investigation,) upon which to found a 
reasonable prediction that nature has distributed the valuable and useful 
minerals throughout the length and breadth of this vast Territory with 
the same bountiful hand that has provided 'the richest of soils and the 
most healthful climate in all the world. 

Deposits of coal, petroleum, salt, tin, iron, copper, lead, marble, granite, 
mica, asbestos, potter's clay, besides the precious metals — in fact, almost 
all of earth's treasures— so far discovered and utilized by science, 
are known to exist within the boundaries of Dakota. But, up to this time, 
only the precious metals, gold and silver, have been successful in wean- 
ing the inhabitants from such pursuits as go hand in hand with the devel- 
opment of a purely agricultural community. 

The recent discoveries of wells of natural gas and the completion of the 
many lines of railroad projected in every direction, which will bring with- 
in reasonable contiguity the immense coal fields and valuable mineral de- 
posits of western Dakota and the markets of the eastern part, must certainly 
result in the rapid development of manufacturing interests in the Territory. 
Capital is far-seeing, shrewd and aggressive, and such opportunities as 
Dakota offers to-day for lucrative investment in the development of the 
mines of mineral wealth now lying dormant everywhere, will not go 
begging long. 

The day is not far distant when the amount of capital invested in mining 
and manufacturing industries will bear no mean relationship to the agri- 
cultural and stock interests of the Territorv. 



RESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 153 

NATURAL GAS. 

The term " natural gas," Prof. Weeks says, in his report to the director 
of the United States geological survey, "is the one almost universally ap- 
plied to that mixture of several gases found by drilling in certain sec- 
tions of the country; chiefly, and in the largest quantities, in western 
Pennsylvania and northern Ohio." 

The gas is mainly marsh gas, ethane, hydrogen, and nitrogen, and the 
term natural gas was applied to distinguish it from the artificially pre- 
pared gases of commerce. Natural gas is found in varying quantities all 
through the United States, from the Hudson river in the East, to Cali- 
fornia in the West. 

Its earliest economic use in this country was, probably, in lighting the 
village of Fredonia, Chautauqua county, New York, in 1821. For many 
years gas had been observed issuing from the crevices of the slate rocks 
along th ebanks of the creek on which Fredonia is built. A well, one and 
one-half inches in diameter, was put down twenty-seven feet, and the gas 
conveyed to the buildings in which it was used, in wooden pipes. In 1824, 
on the occasion of Lafayette's visit, the village was lighted with natural 
gas. 

The first use of natural gas in manufacturing, was in boiling salt, some 
twenty years after this, in tbe Kanawha valley of West Virginia. 

It was not until 1883 that natural gas began to be used extensively as a 
fuel at Pittsburg and elsewhere in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Now, few of 
the important manufactories of the cities of Pennsylvania and Ohio, so 
situated as to obtain a supply of gas cheaply, use any other fuel. The 
amount of coal displaced by the use of natural gas in 188), is represented 
by a money value of $5,000,000. That natural gas is stored beneath Dako- 
ta's surface, there is no longer any doubt, it has already been found in 
several places in sufficient quantities to use for heat and light, with proper 
development. So far, the discoveries were the result of accident, while 
sinking wells in search of water, and no attempt has been made to save 
or utilize the gas. If we except the well at Fargo, Cass county, which 
was sunk down several hundred feet last fall, when cold weather caused 
a suspension of operations — there has never been any effort put forth to 
determine the extent and quantity of natural gas underlying the Terri- 
tory. Preliminary steps have been taken to immediately develop and 
utilize the flow at all three of the localities where the actual existence of 
natural gas is being demonstrated daily, by its escape from rocky fissures 
or from excavations made in search of water, viz.: Fargo, in Cass county, 
Jamestown, in Stutsman county, and in the southern part of Sully county. 
Stock companies of ample capital, have been formed in the three places 
named, for the purpose of importing from the oil and gas fields of Penn- 
sylvania — the necessary tools, and experienced help to thoroughly test 
the value and extent of the supply. Capitalists familiar with the oil and 
natural gas districts of the East have carefully examined the geological for- 



154 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

niation of these Dakota localities, and nave prospected the existing indi- 
cations with a unanimous verdict to the effect that the same conditions 
are found here, as have been observed to be essential to the gas fields of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio. 

The first record we have of the discovery of natural gas in the Territory, 
was that made by Mr. Oberlin, a farmer living in Sully county, about five 
miles northwest of the city of Blunt, who had dug a well some seventy- 
five feet deep, and not striking water, continued his investigation 135 feet 
deeper, with a two-inch auger. At this depth (something near 200 feet), 
the auger penetrated a vein of what the farmer termed "foul air," from 
the fact that the poisonous effects of the strong flow came very near caus- 
ing his death. The hole was filled up and efforts begun to find water in 
another spot, with the same result as before, of a flow of " foul air," and 
the filling up and abandonment of the well. 

What the farmer pronounced " foul air " was natural gas, as has been 
demonstrated by later discoveries in the same vicinity. 

The next instance of a find of natural gas occurred during the summer 
of 1885, and not far from the one first recorded. AVe give the following 
published account of the discovery : 

" There was no mistaking the real nature of the substance in this in- 
stance. The escaping gas made a noise resembling that of an engine blow- 
ing off steam, and could be heard as far. This flow threw out stones as 
large as hen's eggs; and a sledge hammer, weighing fourteen pounds, 
placed over the pipe, would be kept bouncing up and down continuously, 
It blew with such force that it could not be lighted next to the mouth of 
the pipe, except by holding a burning brand over it; but when an attempt 
was made to light it above, some six or eight feet, it burned finely, making 
a blaze some ten or fifteen feet high and six to eight feet wide. This was 
by far the strongest flow of gas ever struck here. Owing to the pipes 
blowing full of sand and gravel, the flow would die down and almost 
cease, but as soon as the auger would be put down and the pipe cleared 
out, it would continue as strong as ever." 

This well, like the others, was abandoned and allowed to fill up. A few 
days ago the interest caused by later discoveries and a better understand- 
ing of the value of the find, led to a partial cleaning out of the well, when 
the same roarirg sounds were heard as the gas forced its way through 
some thirty feet of mud and water with a pressure estimated at fifteen 
pounds to the square inch. The gas was lighted and burned freely. 

Major Powell in his report on the Mineral Resources of the United 
States, 1885, speaks of the discovery of natural gas in the Territory, and 
says: 

" The gas was found in a vein of gravel, five feet thick and 140 feet below 
the surface, the pressure being so great as to send up gravel from the 
bottom of the vein. The gas when lighted showed a blue-green flame, 
but would only burn when a hot iron rod or burning brand was held over 
the escape-pipe. The flame reached above five feet in height." 



RESOURCES 0* DAKOTA. 155 

Later, a gas well was struck in the same way, while boring for water, on 
a farm a mile nearer Blunt, but owing to the proximity of the well to the 
farm buildings the owner of the property refused to allow it to be fired. 

The discoveries in this locality, and during the present year, which have 
led to the organization of a stock company with a capital of $50,000, for 
the purpose of carrying the gas into the city of Blunt, where it is to be 
used for heating and lighting the city, and the building up of manufacto- 
ries, are described by one who has visited the spot and examined the 
wells, as follows: 

F 7 " On the 24th of February, while boring for water, Mr. R. M. McClure, 
living on 23-113-77, Summit township, Sully county, eight miles northwest 
of Blunt, struck a vein of gas at a depth of 190 feet. A lighted match was 
applied and it showed signs of force, burning a flame at least four feet high. 

" Gas not being the object of Mr. Mc( 'lure's search, he pulled out his 
tubing, abandoned the hole, and proceeded to sink another, about 
twenty or twenty-five rods north, on a line nearly from his house, in 
hopes of striking water. At a depth of 194 feet another vein of gas was 
struck, which appeared to flow freely and with greater force than the first 
one, and burned with a steady flame. This shafting was also removed, 
and the hole allowed to fill up with dirt, and no signs of escaping gas can 
now be noticed. Mr. McClure is perfectly satisfied with the quality, and 
thinks from the force of the flow that there can be no doubt about the 
supply. 

"Mr. Edward Thompson, proprietor of the Blunt roller mills, who ac- 
companied the writer, while something of a scientist, lays no claims to 
any special knowledge of the geological formations or science of the earth, 
yet he questioned closely both Mr. McClure and Mr. Dempsey — the gen- 
tleman in charge of the drilling machinery — concerning the different 
strata through which they passed in boring these holes, and it seems just 
before striking the gas vein that they drilled for a number of feet in a soft 
slate-stone. There seems to be very little smell to the gas, and what little 
there is has a tendency toward the fumes of evaporating kerosene. 

" Going to the hole fiist mentioned, we were informed that it had never 
been closed; that after its first discovery it was allowed to burn steadily 
for three weeks, and was used to melt snow for stock and family use, pro- 
ducing heat sufficient to melt in an hour's time a barrel of water using a 
large tin pan for a kettle. The snow, however, as it melted in the spring 
ran down the hole, and it was supposed to be partly filled with water and 
dirt, yet gas was continually escaping, said Mr. McClure, and a match was 
lighted, held over the hole, and to our great surprise there came forth a 
flame of light which carried a feeling of satisfaction with it, substantiating 
beyond a doubt, every utterance by Mr. McClure." 

On the 17th of May, Mr. McClure, while continuing his search for water, 
struck this vein for the third time. The last well, from all reports, is a 
regular " gusher " — blazing up when fired, to a height of fifteen feet, not- 



156 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. • 

withstanding the fact that the well is full of slush, and no attempt has 
ever been made to clean it out. Mr. McClure has since utilized the flow 
of natural gas in supplying heat for doing the family cooking. 

The presence of natural gas in any quantity in the vicinity of Fargo, 
Cass county, was first discovered something over a year ago on the Mon- 
son farm, eleven miles north, although for a long time previous small 
flows of gas had been observed in many of the wells dug in that city. 
During the fall of 1886, a company was formed which built a derrick, im- 
ported tools from Pennsylvania and sunk a well several hundred feet, in 
search of the main storage-reservoir of this gas. Cold weather put an end 
to the operations, but a stock company, lately organized, proposes to con- 
tinue the well to a depth of 2,000 feet, where it is thought, the heavy vein 
will be struck. Scientists have made a careful examination of the coun- 
try, and agree that natural gas probably underlies the entire Red River 
valley. 

The flow of the well on the Monson farm has continued unabated 
for over a year. 

Within the year past, natural gas was found while sinking an artesian 
well at Jamestown, Stutsman county. The flow was sufficiently strong to 
force the gas through 1,300 feet of pipe filled with water, to the surface of 
the ground where, when lighted, it burned brightly with a flame over a 
foot in height. This seems to settle the question of the existence of a 
strong vein of natural gas underlying the James River Valley. A syndi- 
cate of the most influential and wealthy citizens of Jamestown have or- 
ganized a stock company with the determination of prosecuting the work 
of developing natural gas to a profitable end. 

In sinking wells in the oil fields to the west of the Black Hills a consid- 
erable flow of natural gas has always been encountered, though no attempt 
at a systematic investigation has ever been made. 

It would seem then, that there is no foundation for reasonable doubt of 
the existence of large bodies of natural gas underlying the Missouri, 
James, and Red river valleys and the Wyoming coal fields of the Black 
Hills. 

The following conclusions by leading scientists as to where natural gas 
is likely to be found, are of interest. Professor Lesley of Pennsylvania 
says: 

" Where the rock formations lie approximately horizontal and have re- 
mained nearly undisturbed over extensive areas, there is always a chance 
of finding gas (if not oil) at some depth beneath the surface, deter- 
mined by the particular formation which appears at the surface. And, 
wherever rock oil has been found, there and in the surrounding region, 
rock gas is sure to exist." 

Professor Orton, state geologist for Ohio, in an elaborate report upon 
petroleum and inflammable gas, says that there is nothing to establish a 
rule that natural burning gas can be found only in the neighborhood of 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 157 

deposits of petroleum, and he cites the wells of Indiana, located entirely 
without the oil belt. Professor Orton lays down a rule of three condi- 
tions needful to the formation of a natural reservoir containing gas, viz.: 

A range of highly porous rock, through which the gas traverses, as 
through pipes; a large fissure into which it flows, and a cap, or lid of im- 
pervious rock or clay, which will prevent its escape from the reservoir. 
The Trenton, Berean and Magnesian limestone formations have furnished 
the first two conditions in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. Other rocks 
may furnish it for other regions. The cap, or lid, is sometimes of shale, 
sometimes of dense, impervious limestone. The professor disproves the 
theory that natural gas is a product of the natural distillation of petro- 
leum, but insists that the forces which make natural gas are at work 
universally, and therefore natural gas can be found almost everywhere. 

With a discovery of an extended area of natural gas; inexhaustible coal 
fields, mines of tin, lead, copper, iron, nickel, gold, silver, and other 
minerals useful to the manufacturer; with flax to supply any number of 
tow and oil mills; with wheat for countless flour mills; marble, granite, 
and all the valuable building stones, to be quarried, hewn and polished; 
vegetables for the. canning factories; with the live stock interests to 
build up creameries, dairies, cheese factories, pork and beef packing es- 
tablishments, it is apparent that no other country in the world, offers as 
great inducements for the safe and profitable investment of capital in the 
development of mineral wealth and the erection of manufactories, as is 
presented today, in this wonderland of Dakota. 

MARBLE, GRANITE, SANDSTONE, QUARTZITE, JASPER, ETC. 

At Sioux Falls, Dell Rapids and other points of southeastern Dakota, 
along the Big Sioux river, there is an out-cropping of the most remarkable 
deposit of quartzite (granite or jasper) ever discovered on the Continent. 

At Sioux Falls, nearly eighty feet of the rock is exposed and, at Dell 
Bapids, the perpendicular cliffs of quartzite on either bank of the Sioux 
river tower to a height of sixty feet above the stream. Some idea of 
the inexhaustible quantities of this beautiful and useful mineral ma}- be 
gained from the report of Major Powell, on the United States Geological 
Surveys, 18S3-4; who estimates the thickness of the deposit to be no less 
than 3,000 to 4,000 feet, 

It is said by mineralogists to be equal to the finest granite quarried in 
Scotland. The texture and color vary somewhat, though generally of a 
reddish or flesh color, and exceedingly tine-grained. The stone polishes 
beautifully, taking a glass-like surface, and is as hard, almost, as a diamond 
— a sharp fragment of the jasper cutting glass with the ease of a glazier's 
jewel. 

The J. H. Drake company, (which discovered the commercial value of 
this beautiful stone, and invented the elaborate and powerful machinery 
necessary to work it,) has invested 880,000, at Sioux Falls, in a plant for 
polishing the stone, and a large number of skilled mechanics are em- 



158 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

ployed in the manufacture of elegant designs of ornamental and monu- 
mental work, which are shipped to all parts of the country. 

Recently, this company has added to its industry, the working into 
various shapes, and the polishing of chalcedony, (wood brought from'a 
petrified forest in Arizona Territory,) being the only firm in the world 
which has succeeded in the undertaking. 

The working of these quarries forms a leading industry of Sioux Falls, 
Ives, and Dell Rapids, and hundreds of men are engaged in the work of 
chipping the granite into shape for paving blocks, which go to Omaha, to 
Chicago, and other Eastern cities, and the dressing of building stone 
which is used in the finest structures at home and abroad. The pay-roll 
of a single concern, operating quarries at these points, amounts to $24,000 
each month. 

Eight hundred car-loads of this granite were shipped last year, from the 
city of Dell Rapids alone. 

In the " Mineral Resources of the United States, 1885," we find the fol- 
lowing notice of the Sioux Falls quartzite : 

"This stone is susceptible of a very high polish, and is found in a variety 
of pleasing tints, such as chocolate, brownish red, brick red, and yellowish. 

"The polished material has been sold to the amount of $15,000 duringthe 
last two years," (a trade which has increased wonderfully during the two 
years since the above was written,) " and polishing works, run by water 
power, have been erected, and so ingeniously are they contrived that pil- 
lars, pilasters, mantels, and table tops can be made here as cheaply 
as anywhere. The pilasters of the German- American bank, in 
Saint Paul, Minnesota, and the columns in the doorway of the Chamber 
of Commerce building in the same city, are of this beautiful jasper. It is 
likely to become one of our choicest ornamental stones, especially effec- 
tive in combination with the Minnesota red granite. Its great tensile 
strength, its high, almost mirror-like polish, the'fact that though so high- 
ly polished, the stone is not slippery, the large pieces that can be quarried 
out, and the pleasing variety of colors, all combine to render this one of 
the most desirable building stones. Polishing mills have been built of 
sufficient capacity to polish $100,000 worth per annum, and in view of the 
unequaled facility with which it can be prepared for use, it can be made 
into tablets, blocks, columns, and tiles to advantage, and employed for 
fine interior and monumental work or in the more artistic branches of 
stone work." 

In the Black Hills are found extensive deposits of marble, sandstone, 
and other valuable and ornamental building stones, of fine texture and 
great beauty of color. These are described more at length in the article 
on the "Mineral Resources of the Black Hills," contained in the following 
pages of this publication. 

Beds of lime and sandstone are found in a few scattered localities out- 
si ie of the Black Hills, but in rather limited quantities. However, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 159 

enough, stone for -walls, foundations, and the usual requirements of build- 
ing can be had in nearly every county of the Territory. Where no regu- 
lar deposit of stone is to be found — boulders, broken up by heavy sledges 
are employed, and make a good wall. 

OIL. 

It is reported that petroleum has been discovered in the Turtle Moun- 
tains region, lying in Rolette county, on the northern boundary of the 
Territory. "While the report lacks verification, there is little doubt of 
the existence of oil there, and, because of the rapid settlement now going 
on in that hitherto undeveloped region, important discoveries of hidden 
wealth may be looked for. 

The surfaces of the springs at the foot of the mountains have always been 
covered over with a scum of oil — a piece of paper saturated in which 
would ignite quickly, and burn with the fierce flame plainly indicating its 
properties. 

Oil, in considerable quantities, has been discovered on the western 
slope of the Black Hills — in Wyoming, and is used even now, in fact, for 
lubricating the heavy machinery of the mining districts. 

It only needs time to demonstrate the presence of oil beneath the sur- 
face of Dakota — sufficient perhaps, for all demands of home consumption. 

COAL. 

The whole country west of the Missouri river and a large part of the 
surface of north Dakota is underlaid with a deposit of lignite coal, which 
crops out in many places in veins sometimes twenty feet in thickness. 
This lignite, or brown coal, is of soft variety, excellent for heating purposes, 
and has been tested and found to possess gas-making qualities, superior 
to almost any coal discovered on the Continent. It is denned by mineralo- 
gists to be one of the most recent geological formations, Post Tertiary, more 
recent than the anthracite or bituminous coal of the Carboniferous period. 

It retains, to a great extent, the texture of the wood from which it was 
formed; and, in mining lignite, vegetable matters are often met with in 
various stages of their conversion into mineral coal. Sometimes it is more 
altered in structure, so that its vegetable character is more indistinct; the 
beds presenting stratified bodies of dark, nearly black substance, with a 
concoidal fracture. 

Deposits of lignite occur in many localities of the United States outside 
of Dakota, notably at Brandon, Vt., Virginia, Texas, Kansas, Oregon, 
Wyoming, Washington Territory, California, as well as in some of the 
countries of Europe. 

The proportion of carbon in this variety of coal is found to vary, by 
different analyses, from fifty to seventy per cent. 

To Mr. C. W. Thompson, of Bismarck, who has had a lengthy experi- 
ence in the mining and handling of Dakota coal, this office is indebted for 
the following analysis of the lignite found in the Territory: 



160 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Moisture 12.1 

Fixed carbon 58.5 

Volatile 27.0 

Ash 2.4 

Total 100.0 

Specific gravity 1.30 

While inferior to anthracite, or the best qualities of bituminous coal, 
lignite burns readily and lurnishes the settlers of a prairie country with 
that inestimable boon, cheap domestic fuel. At present, because of the 
lack of transportation facilities, only the outcroppings are worked, and, 
generally, for the supply simply of the settlers of the immediate neighbor- 
hood." The completion of the north and south roads already in course of 
construction, will place the immense coal fields of the northern part of 
the Territory within easy reach of every village; — and a good quality of 
soft coal can then be had as low at $2 per ton, — and even in the more dis- 
tant towns, not exceeding $4.50 per ton. Already, along the Northern Pa- 
cific railway at Sims, in Morton county, Dickinson, in Stark county, and 
Little Missouri, in Billings county, coal mining is carried on quite exten- 
sively and thousands of tons are shipped as far east as Jamestown. It is 
estimated that during the past winter, ten thousand tons were shipped 
into the city of Bismarck alone, where it is retailed for §53.50, after paying 
a tribute of $1 per ton to the only railway line thus far reaching into the 
coal fields. Recent railroad developments will result, at an early day, in 
opening to market the extensive coal areas surrounding the Devils Lake, 
Turtle Mountains, and Mouse river countries, as also of McLean, Mercer, 
and Emmons counties which contain some of the richest deposits of coal, 
yet found, but are too distant from present railway facilities. 

On the north, south, and west of the Black Hills are hundreds of thous- 
ands of acres of coal in veins of from five to twenty feet in thickness, en- 
tirely undeveloped, owing to the distance from railways and the cost of 
transportation. In Day county, in the YYessington Hills, at Plankinton, 
at Huron, at Yankton, and many other localities of south Dakota there are 
every indications of the existence of good veins of coal, at a greater or less 
distance beneath the surface. The great Sioux Indian reservation will 
undoubtedly prove to be one of the richest coal fields of the Territory, 
when Congress shall have opened the lands to settlement, which will per- 
mit of a systematic and scientific investigation of the mineral resources 
hidden away there. It is authoritatively reported that during the winter 
season the Indians bring in and sell to the settlers in the vicinity of 
Scranton and LeBeau, in Walworth county, coal from the Moreau river, in 
this reservation, which fully equals in quality the best grade of Pennsyl- 
vania anthracite. An observing writer has said with great truthfulness, 
that if the people of Dakota were compelled to rely on the home supply 
for fuel, they would find beneath the surface, everywhere, millions of tons 



i02 v iong, | [" 



MAP 
showing the known 

COAL AREA of DAKOTA. 

Drawn for the 

Commissioner of Immigration, 

by C. If. Thompson, 

Bismarck, I). T. June 10th, 1887, 




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RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 161 

of the best of coal, and that in less than three years the cost would be cut 
down to one-luilf the present burden. 

In any one of several counties of the north, there is enough coal 
now in sight to supply the Territory with fuel for untold generations. 
Farmers haul wagon loads to the nearest towns the same as wood and sell 
it, the coal, at from one to two dollars a ton. 

MICA. 

Surface indications of mica are found along the streams and in the hills 
very generally throughout the Territory — although the quality and quan- 
tity of the hidden deposits remain practically undemonstrated. Only in 
the Black Hills have any attemptsbeen made to mine mica commercially. 

Major Powell, director of the United States geological surveys, esti- 
mates the annual output of the mica mines of the Black Hills at 18,150 
pounds, in sheets varying in size from three to sixteen inches, valued at 
an average price of $3 50 per pound, or, a total annual product of the value 
of $63,525. 

This office is in receipt of authentic information of the discovery, this 
spring, of an extensive mica bed in the vicinity of Minot, the new and 
bustling town of Ward county, established on the main extension of the 
St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railway. Also of the discovery of 
quite a heavy deposit of mica along the Elm river near Frederick, in 
Brown county. There is no doubt that mica is an abundant mineral 
in the Territory, and although it has been mined as yet only in one local- 
ity, theie is a promising outlook for this industry in the future, from the 
fact of the rapidly decreasing supply furnished by the mines of North 
Carolina and New Hampshire, which have heretofore controlled the 
market. Fine, large sheets of mica now command a price as high as $10 
per pound. 

THE HOT SPRINGS OF FALL RIVER COUNTY. 

These famous thermal springs, the " Wi-wi-la-kahta " or " hot water " of 
the " Lakotahs," the healing properties of which have been a local tradi- 
tion from time immemorial among their tribes, are located in the Black 
Hills about twelve miles southwest of Buffalo Gap, a station on the Fre- 
mont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley railroad. 

The following bit of Indian lore taken from a pamphlet descriptive of 
this locality will be read with interest : 

"Two hundred and fifty seven years ago an epidemic of great virulence 
attacked all of the Indian tribes of North America, and it soon became 
manifest that the whole race would become extinct if the fell destroyer 
was not arrested. The healing qualities of mineral waters had long been 
known to the Indians, and they resorted to the waters of the East and 
South in their dire distress, but with little success. At this period of 
their great affliction, when the ranks had been decimated by fell dis- 
ease, when hope was almost extinguished, when death had again and 
again entered the wigwam of chief and warrior, when lamentation for 

(6) 



162 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

their dead had become universal, a messenger arrived from the Great West 
with news of a wonderful water which he said had been touched by the 
finger of the Great Spirit, and that this water would cure all manner of 
disease. With the same eagerness that the people of all ages have seized 
upon a last resort for ills, the Indians seized upon this hope, and they re- 
paired by thousands to these most wonderful waters, and were saved. 
From that time to this, these waters (the Dakota Hot Springs,) have been 
the great resort of the Indians in the West. It is a well-known fact in 
the West that they, to this day, believe the Black Hills of Dakota is the 
abode of the Great Spirit. 

" In years after the event spoken of, the Cheyennes, becoming power- 
ful, took possession of these springs, and built an immense city which 
covered many hundreds of acres. The remains of this once great Indian 
city are still plainly apparent, and the evidence is seen upon the lands ad- 
jacent to and within a circuit of many miles around the springs. Years 
after this, the Sioux Nation becoming powerful, a constant war was waged 
between them and the Cheyennes, one to gain and the other to hold pos- 
session of these waters. Forty-seven years ago a great battle was fought 
between these tribes, at a point about one mile east of the springs, at a 
place called Battle mountain, where fortifications of the besieged Chey- 
ennes still remain in a good state of preservation. 

" In this great battle the Sioux was victorious, and thereby gained con- 
trol of the Hot Springs, and retained possessed of them until the treaty 
with the United States Government, ratified by Congress, February 27th, 
1877. The Sioux Indians were more loth to part with these springs than 
all the rest of the Black Hills, and they permitted no whites to enter the 
Hills at the point where the springs are located. It was occupied by the 
Indians and their half-breed allies, until the year 1880, when the first 
white men were permitted to make settlement here. At this time the 
squaw-men were in possession of the springs, they having obtained them 
from the Indians, or through the privilege or the knowledge derived from 
them. The present owners of the springs bought the water-right in the 
autumn of 1881. Tents and tepees had formerly been used for hospitals and 
bathing purposes, but the last owners had erected a log house over one of 
the bath tubs, and built several log cabins for the accommodation of those 
seeking the baths. Min-ne-kah-ta bath tub, the only one here when 
bought in 1881, was hewn out of the solid rock by the Indians, and made 
in the form of a moccasin, with the toes as the places for the water to dis- 
charge. The company still preserve the original Indian bath tub, and 
the hundreds that have bathed in it, pronounce it the most luxurious and 
perfect in the world." 

The waters from this group of springs are highly charged with electric- 
ity, add flow out in a great volume at a temperature of about 96°. Follow- 
ing is a chemical analysis of the waters : 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 1G3 

CO NSTIT U ENTS . G E A I XS . 

Silica 2.4G4 

Peroxide of iron a trace 

Calcium sulphate 10.352 

Magnesium sulphate 4.320 

Sodium sulphate \ 25 6 9 

Potassium sulphate j "" 

Sodium, chloride, and potassa 13.790 



62.546 

The fame of the remarkable medicinal properties of thevHot Springs 
in the cure of chronic diseases, such as rheumatism, neuralgia, dyspepsia, 
kidney diseases, and ail disorders of the blood, bids fair to outrival that 
of the Hot Springs of Arkansas, or New Mexico, or of the waters of Wau- 
kesha or Saratoga. The springs are controlled by "The Dakota Hot 
Springs company," incorporated under the laws of the Territory, which 
has expended a large sum of money in the erection of buildings, bath- 
houses, etc., and the improvement oi the grounds. 

The main building of the hotel is 40x128 feet, with wings 30x60 feet, 
containing about seventy rooms for the accommodation of guests, and cost 
over $40,000. 

The location of these springs — amid the most beautiful scenery of the 
Black Hills, and at an elevation of nearly 4,000 ieet above sea level, thus 
insuring to the patient a clear, pure, dry atmosphere— must, assuredly re- 
sult, some day, in building up one of the grandest health resorts in 
America. 

About ten miles southwest of the Hot Springs is another group, 
called the Cascade Springs, the waters of which are somewhat colder, 
having a temperature of from 50° to 60°. 

Near Waterbury, in Jerauld county, are some famous sulphur springs 
flowing a heavy stream of water, supposed to be adequate even, fur mill- 
power. AVe regret the lack of an analysis of the waters, and more com- 
plete information. 

BIUCK CLAY, POTTER'S CLAY, CEMENT, ETC., ETC. 

Clay of excellent quality for the manufacture of brick is abundant every- 
where, and brick-yards are located in all towns where there is a demand 
for building material. 

In the cities of more importance, of south Dakota, of central Dakota 
-of north Dakota, of the Black Hills, one sees on every hand the massive 
blocks and neat dwellings, constructed of brick of home manufacture 
which Avould do credit to any metropolis in the East. 

This clay is suitable, also, for the manufacture of pressed and fire brick 
and terra-cotta — industries already developed to some extent. 

The Yankton pressed brick company, (Yankton county,) is pressing 
brick by machinery, at the rate of 20,000 per day, and has recently 



164 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

added to its plant the power from an artesian well sunk for the purpose. 
Nearly 200 car-loads of brick were exported last year from the one city of 
Yankton. 

In the Black Hills are found inexhaustible beds of gypsum, which is 
manufactured into a fine quality of plaster of Paris. The entire supply of 
this article for the Northwest will come from the mills of the Hills as soon 
as better railway facilities are provided. 

A good quality of cement and lime is made from rock found in different 
localities of the Territory, especially in the Black Hills. 

At Yankton, in Yankton county, the chalk rock and blue clay abounding 
there, when crushed, ground and burned, is said to produce the genuine 
Portland cement. 

Samples of the shale, underlying the James River valley in vast beds, 
were taken to England to be experimented on, and some fine specimens 
of pottery were produced, having a terra-cotta color, and susceptible of a 
very high polish. 

In the vicinity of Rapid City, Pennington county, Black Hills, a good 
quality of potter's clay is found, and steps have been taken to utilize it 
in a pottery establishment now in course of construction. 



The Territory of Dakota has established the office of Commissioner of 
Immigration for the purpose of furnishing to home-seekers free and cor- 
rect information on all matters pertaining to the growth and develop- 
ment of the agricultural, manufacturing, commercial and mining interests 
of Dakota. Communications addressed to the Commissioner, Pierre, 
Dakota, will receive prompt attention. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 165 



THE BLACK HILLS. 

"The term, Black Hills, has at various times been applied to different 
sections of country lying between the Missouri river and the Rocky 
mountains. At the present time it is used to designate an isolated and 
distant group of mountains and their accompanying foot-hills, lying prin- 
cipally in the Territory of Dakota, but partly in Wyoming, and inclosed 
by the two main branches of the Big Cheyenne river, which unite at a dis- 
tance of fifty miles northeast from the central hills, and form the Big 
Cheyenne. 

" The tract of country known as the Black Hills is included between the 
meridians 25°, 30 / , and 28°, longitude west from Washington, and";between 
43°, 20 / and 44°, 45 ' north latitude. The boundary line between the 
Territory of Dakota and Wyoming, is on the twenty-seventh meridian 
west from Washington, consequently about two-thirds of this area lies 
within the limits of Dakota. 

"The highest uplifts of the Hills, and the greater portion of the princi- 
pal streams, are also in Dakota." [Andreas' History of Dakota.] 

This part of the Territory comprising the five counties of Butte, Custer, 
Lawrence, Pennington, and Fall River, has been the recipient of nature's 
favors to a wonderful degree. Here we find an aggregation of mineral 
wealth, excellent soil, magnificent scenery, and pleasant climate, such as 
is not to be found in a similar area elsewhere in the world. Prof. Walter 
P. Jenney, of the Government exploring expedition, thus enthusiastically 
describes the fertility of this country as he saw it in 1875: 

" Even a casual examination shows that the soil of the valleys, the 
broad swells of the parks, and the bottom lands along the creeks is ex- 
ceedingly rich and deep, being a dark colored loam, resulting from the de- 
composition of the granite, limestone, and schistose rocks, occupying the 
central area of the Hills. Often in sinking prospecting pits along the val- 
leys, in search of gold, the soil was found to be a black, peaty loam, from 
two to three feet in thickness, and frequently in the bottom lands the soil 
was four feet in depth. The Black Hills are an oasis of Verdure among 
the open and level plains. A luxurious growth of grass spreads over 



166 KESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 

the whole region; even on the rocky hill-sides grass is found growing in 
the crevices in the rocks where there is a particle of soil for its support. 
AL avy forest covers the greater portion of this area, the trees growing 
thic y together, and attaining full size, not only on the rich bottom lands 
oftt valleys, but on the tops of the level limestone 'mesas'; and the 
steep, rocky ridges are clothed with pine of good size to their very crests. 
* * * I estimate that not less than one-twentieth of the 

whole area is susceptible of cultivation, the remainder being covered by 
forests or forming stock ranges of the finest description." 

Prof. Jenney's predictions of the fertility of the soil and the adaptabil- 
ity of the country to farming and stock raising have since been realized. 

Prior to 1874 the Black Hills country was unknown to the white man, 
with a few individual exceptions, and, as a well known writer has said: 
" It was isolated from the settled portions of the country in a greater de- 
gree than any other portion of our Territory, except Alaska, although it 
has already developed some of the richest gold mines in the world, and is 
known to contain in its broken hills and towering mountains, silver, cop- 
per, iron, galena, tin, nickel, graphite (or plumbago), mica, (in merchant- 
able form,) salt, asbestos, cobalt, antimony, arsenic, and many other 
minerals, and is believed by old and experienced miners and mineralogists 
to be the richest mineral region of equal area, in the world." 

The presence of gold in the Black Hills was undoubtedly known to the 
Indians for many years prior to the first discoveries made by white men, 
under the expedition of Lieut. Col. George A. Custer, in the summer of 
1S71 — for their chiefs had been in the habit of bringing in gold in consider- 
able quantities to the trading posts, though they refused to reveal the 
locality from which it came. 

Soon after the return ot General Custer's expedition, reports of the 
finding of gold in the Black Hills spread far and wide, and mining expe- 
ditions were immediately organized to prospect the country. jS'uinerous 
conflicts followed between the miners and the Indians, and the efforts of 
the military forces to prevent the venturesome whites from entering the 
Hills proving unavailing, the Government finally, in 1876, took possession 
of the country under a treaty made with the Sioux, which was ratified by 
the act of February 28, 1877. 

Since then the development and growth of the mineral, agricultural and 
stock interests have been rapid and constant — especially since the com- 
pletion of the first railway into the Flills in 1S86, which, with the assur- 
ance of the construction of new lines will permit the introduction of labor, 
supplies, machinery and the working of the mines hitherto idle, because 
of the vast amount of capital required for their development. 

From the establishment of a echool of mines in the Black Hills, at 
Eapid City, bv ,ct of the Tenitoiial Legislature in 1885. it is confidently 
expected studies and investigations of the mineral resources will follow, 
which will contribute in a marked degree to the wealth of the Territory. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA . 167 

A fine school building is completed and also a laboratory, rilled with the 
most approved appliances. Prof. F. R. Carpenter, the dean of the 
school, has been employed during the summer just past, under the in- 
structions of the board of trustees, making as complete a geological survey 
as time will permit of the mining districts of the Hills known as Ruby 
Camp, Bald Mountain, Carbonate, and Galena; also the known tin dis- 
tricts of the Hills, and that portion of the mineral belt, about which so 
little is known that is termed " Unknown District." He has kindly con- 
tributed the following article: 

THE GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OE THE BLACK HILLS. 
By Franklin R. Carpenter, A. M., Dean, Dakota School of Mines. 

A singular interest has always been manifested in the geology of the 
Black Hills by all who have ever become at all familiar with their 
formation. 

* Rising as they do, like a wooded island, from an arid and almost tree- 
less plain, their dark outline is said to have impressed the Indian with 
awe, and their cool and grassy valleys, when compared with the clayey, 
denuded "Bad Lands" which surround them, seemed to be indeed, a fit 
abode for the Great Spirit. It is said the more intelligent among the 
Dakota Indians long thought of them as a final resting place where the 
remnant of their tribe might in peace await the extinction which seems 
to be its doom. 

To the mere observer, there would have appeared at least a poetic jus- 
tice in reserving for the use of that once powerful tribe, the Dakotas, this 
secluded section of their former wide domains, for here free from mol- 
estation, they could have passed by natural steps from a state of savagery 
and dependence to the simpler labors of civilization and independence. 

This humane use of the section, however, was not destined to be. 
The Sioux were to be still further shorn of their possessions, and this 
their most cherished section, thrown open to settlement through the dis- 
covery of gold by the Custer expedition in 1874. 

The first reliable information of this section was furnished in 1857 by 
Lieut. G. K. Warren, who then visited it accompanied by the eminent 
geologist, Dr. Hayden, as naturalist. They entered the Hills by the way 
of Beaver creek to Inyan Kara. Here their progress was opposed by the 
Indians, and, retracing their steps, they passed around the southern ex- 
tremity of the Hills and north to the east side of Bear Butte. The re- 
port of this reconnaissance was first published in 1858 and again in 1875. 

Their examination was made in the most rapid manner and under un- 
usual disadvantages. The interior of the Hills was not reached at all, yet 
the map was of singular accuracy and has afforded the basis of all subse- 
quent mapping of this section. 

In the year 1859 Dr. Hayden, as geologist, with the expedition of Capt. 
W. T. Raynolds again came to the Hills. This time he crossed the north- 
ern part from Bear Butte westward through Red water valley. 

* Henry Newton. 



168 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Numerous other surveying and exploring parties were at work upon 
the headwaters of the Little Missouri after this, but none seems ever to 
have penetrated the Hills until the memorable expedition of Custer in 1874. 
He entered from the north, via. the Redwater canon and past the Sun- 
dance Hills to Inyan Kara, thence by the way of Castle creek to French 
creek. This expedition was accompanied by Prof. X. H. Winchell, at 
present in charge of the geological survey of Minnesota. He was the first 
geologist to reach the interior of the Hills. They made the ascent of 
Harney's Peak and went out by the way of Box Elder creek, having been 
in the Black Hills less than a month, but even during this short time Prof. 
Winchell was enabled to make many interesting observations of their 
geology. 

This expedition made known the existence of gold. Custer's report, 
while temperate and conservative in itself, and remarkably correct, as 
shown by subsequent developments, fired imagination of the prospec- 
tors, who, notwithstanding the section was in the Indian reservation, 
flocked to the Hills by thousands, until the Government was forced to take 
note of this unauthorized attempt at settlement, and protect the Indian 
title. That the truth also might be known, — for many disputed the exis- 
ience of gold in paying quantities, — an expedition was sent for the ex- 
press purpose of determining the mineral value of the section. This was 
the famous Newton and Jenney expedition of 1875, from which the above 
facts have been mainly drawn. 

In 1861 Dr. Hayden, iu a paper read before the American Philosophical 
society of Philadelphia, presented all his observations to date upon the 
geology of this interesting country, which was probably the most impor- 
tant contribution to the subject that has yet been made. Some of his 
conclusions were doubted by Winchell, reaffirmed by Newton, and of late 
doubted again, but in the main his description was correct. 

The geology of the Black Hillo is very simple. Around a central mass 
or nucleus of granite are arranged in concentric bands the upturned edges 
of nearly all formations. Daring Archaean time there seem to have been 
disturbances, for, as first pointed out by Newton, there is an older and a 
later Archaean, which are unconformable. Or, in other words, during 
Archaean time, land was upheaved, acted upon by erosion, and again 
sunk beneath the ocean to receive additional sediments, to be again up- 
heaved. At the close of the Archaean, the section known as the Black 
Hills was a slowly sinking island, upon which the Potsdam ocean ad- 
vanced, undermining its cliffs, rolling the stones thus formed upon the 
beach, grinding them to boulders and sand, depositing them in conglomer- 
ates, until all had sunk beneath the ocean. These sediments accumulated 
to the depth of two hundred and fifty feet, and contain unmistakable- 
fossils of the Potsdam group, which is the only group of the Cambrian 
or Lower Silurian age that has been determined. The Upper Silurian 
and Devonian seem to be wanting. It is most likelv that the section 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



169 



during these ages was again above the Paleozoic ocean, but what 
throws doubt upon this supposition is that the Carboniferous is found 
resting upon the Potsdam with perfect conformability . It is not impossible, 
however, that the section was covered with deep sea during the time 
from the Cambrian to the Carboniferous, and received little or no sedi- 
mentation until the beginning of the Carboniferous, when limestones and 
sand stones accumulated to the depth of nearly 700 feet. 

Upon these were laid down the "red" or Triassic beds, then the Jurassic 
rocks and lastly the Cretaceous, when the Black Hills were up- 
heaved. The rocks which accumulated have been acted upon by erosion 
until the original Archaean area over which they were deposited is again 
aid bare, and a cross section of the Hills would appear as in the following 
drawing: 




(From Henry Newton.) 

1. Archaean schists and slates. 

2. Granite. 

3. Cambrian (Potsdam.) 

4. Carboniferous. 

5. Redbedh. 

6. Jura. 

7: Cretaceous. 

8. Tertian'. 

The dotted lines show the amount of erosion. • 

From Harney's Peak, which is shown in the centre, coming down in 
any direction, one would first pass over the upturned edge of the Arch- 
aean, which contains veins carrying tin, gold, copper and silver. Next 
would be passed the rocks of the Potsdam, which in the northern Hills 
carry deposits of gold and silver, and in the southern portion, copper. 
The base of it is everywhere auriferous. The gold in it was derived from 
the same source as the material comprising these rocks, viz. : the Archaean 
area, so that the base of the Potsdam is in reality an immense ancient 
placer consolidated to rock. 

Where rich gold veins existed, as near Lead City, the Potsdam is of 
course richer than in other sections. The patches of this formation not 
yet eroded in certain sections constitute the famous " cement beds." 

After passing the upturned edge of this formation he would come to the 
Carboniferous, which yields excellent building stone. Next the Triassic is 
found, which also yields fine building stone, but is mainly known from 
its immense deposits of gypsum. After passing this he would encounter 
the sand stones of the Cretaceous, which stand up like a wall all around 



170 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

the Hills, forming a valley upon their inner sides running entirely around 
the Hills, and called by the Indians "The Race Course." It occupies 
approximately the position of the red beds upon the map of the Black 
Hills hereto attached. 

It will be seen that the geology of the Hills is of singular interest, not 
only to the student of this science, but from their economic products to 
the man of business. 

Dr. Hayden has well said: "The\Black Hills of Dakota will form one 
of the most interesting studies on this continent. There is so much regu- 
larity in the upheaval that all obscurity is removed and all the formations 
known in the West are revealed in zones or belts around the granite 
nucleus in their fullest development. A careful detailed topographical 
and geological survey of this range would be a most valuable contribution 
to science. In all the Western country I have never seen the Cretaceous, 
Jurassic, Triassic, or red beds, the Carboniferous and Potsdam rocks, so 
well exposed for study as around the Black Hills." 

In geological language, the Black Hills uplift is a quaquaversal of singu- 
lar regularity; that is, the sedimentary formations dip away from the 
centre in all directions like the sides of a volcano. 

ORE DEPOSITS. 

The ore deposits are of great variety. Among them are the largest 
known gold mines and the only tin mines worked upon the continent. 

Almost every part of the~Archaean area shown upon the map attached 
is ore bearing. 

GOLD AND SILVER. 

As pointed out by Jenney, * gold occurs here in the following formations: 

1. In veins of ferruginous quartz, traversing the Archaean schists and 
slates. 

2. In strata of slate mineralized and altered by the action of waters 
depositing silica and iron pyrites. 

3. In the conglomerate forming the lower layer of the Potsdam sand 
stone, resulting in this case from the denudation of the ledges in the 
Archaean rocks. 

4. In trachytes and porphyry. 

5. In deposits in the slates and sedimentary rocks produced by the in- 
trusion of trachyte and porphyry. 

6. In placer gravels resulting from the decomposition and erosion of 
the above formations in Tertiary and recent times. 

WHITEWOOD DISTRICT. 

The most important mining section in the Hills is the Whitewood dis- 
trict, w T hich includes Deadwood. Its centre is at Lead City, where are 
located the largest gold mines and mills in the world. The ore-bodies are 
found in Archaean schists and are two hundred, three hundred, and even 
four hundred feet in width. 

* Geology of the Black Hills of Dakota, 1880. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 171 

The difficulty in working such immense ore-bodies to any depth pre- 
sents engineering problems of no small magnitude. 

In the Homestake combination are nearly 600 stamps con v - dly drop- 
ping, Sunday and week day, day and night, never stopping e ( :epu for re- 
pairs. 

Each stamp is capable of crushing three tons of ore daily, or 
to say safely, the whole number crushes 1,600 tons every twenty-four 
hours, or nearly 20,000 cubic feet of rock daily. 

To properly timber these mines and to supply the mills with fuel, the 
company have built and equipped a railroad thirty miles in length. They 
have also built many miles of ditches to supply the works with water. 
The magnitude of these operations can only be appreciated by a visit, 
and notwithstanding the vast amount of ore crushed by these mills daily, 
it is said upon the very best of authority, that at least live years' supply 
is opened up and in sight. 

These mines have paid dividends as follows: 

The Homestake $3,843,750 

The Deadwood-Terra 900,000 

The Fatherde Smet 1,125,000 

The Caledonia 40,000 

The Dead wood and Terra each paid dividends before they were consoli- 
dated. Other mines have paid, but their record is not public. 

There are many valuable mines in this locality not owned by the Home- 
stake, among which may be mentioned the Pierce-Badger group adjoin- 
ing the Homestake, the Savage Tunnel combination, Roderich Dhu, and 
many others. 

In the western part of this district, in Ruby Basin and near Bald moun- 
tain are also gold mines but of entirely different character. The gold veins 
at Lead City are in the Archaean rocks, and dip from 50 to 70 degrees to the 
northeast. These, however, are found in the Potsdam at the contact be- 
tween quartzite and lime shales. The ore occurs in well denned shoots 
throughout the district, which is quite large, so that extensive develop- 
ments may be expected. 

The ore-bodies vary from a foot to twenty feet in thickness. They are 
highly silicious, and carry gold in varying quantities. Some lots shipped 
East have returned over $200 per ton, but the average of the district seems 
to be in the neighborhood of $30 per ton. 

It is the opinion of the writer that this district is much larger than is 
now thought, and that it affords a fine field for the prospector. 

Among the important mines may be mentioned the Ross-Hannibal, the 
Isadorah, Retriever, Buxton, Golden Reward, Amazon and Ruby Belle, 
and farther west the Trojan and Portland. Many hundred thousand dol- 
lars' worth of ore, if not millions, are already opened in this district, and 
waiting only the approach of the railroad for shipment, — or the introduc- 
tion of some cheap process of milling. 



172 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

GALEXA OR BEAR BUTTE DISTRICT. 

Eight miles south of Deadwood this district is found. The ore occurs 
under the same condition as that at Ruby Basin and Bald mountain, viz.: 
in the Potsdam, and the veins are nearly horizontal. There seem to be 
three ore bearing contacts, one above another, but they are by no means 
regular. These occur between quartzite and lime shales, but unlike the 
Ruby Basin section, the ores are mainly argentiferous galena, and cerusite 
with iron oxide. Several of these mines are quite well developed, and 
one of them, the Sitting Bull, has produced quite largely, but was closed a 
few years since by litigation. 

The district has suffered from the want of a market, but this is now met 
by the near approach of the railroad and the establishment of two smel- 
ters at Galena, the center of the district. The ore-bearing rocks are 
known to extend for several miles. 

Here also, but very distinct from the above, are gold mines. One of 
these, the Oro Fino, is a geological curiosity. It has been somewhat 
fancifully described as the tube of an extinct geyser. It appears to be a 
well, nearly circular in shape, about 150 feet in diameter, and filled with a 
breccia of porphyry and slate fragments, cemented into a compact mass 
by the action of thermal waters carrying minerals in solution. It has 
been exploited to a depth of 235 feet, and shows a decided increase in 
richness as depth is gained. Other mines in the district, show all the 
characteristics of those found at Lead City. The business of mining here 
is in its infancy. The district is imperfectly prospected, and the want of 
a market has prevented the development of the mines already found. 

CARBONATE DISTRICT. 

TM'elve miles west of Deadwood is the Carbonate camp. Many claims 
have been taken up, and are at present being worked. The ore, as indi- 
cated by the name, is a carbonate in this case, of lead carrying silver. 
The Iron Hill is the best known mine in the district. It is well equipped 
with hoisting works, a sixty-ton smelter for the lead ores, and an amal- 
gamating mill for the ' dry ' ores. A tramway 6,000 feet in length is be- 
ing constructed from the mine to the reduction works. 

It is the intention of the company, as stated by President Bullock, 
to immediately begin the work of changing the mill to a concentrating 
plant, of sixty tons capacity, they having found that their ores can be 
smelted more cheaply than they can be milled. 

The Iron Hill mine has paid several dividends. 

Other mines in the camp promise well, and ore bodies as large as those 
in the Iron Hill may reasonably be expected. 

OTHER DISTRICTS. 

The above named districts are the best known gold and silver districts, 
but are by no means all. 

Throughout the entire Archaean exposure are found vast veins of iron 
pyrite impregnating lenticular masses of quartz and zones of slates and 



< 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 173 

Bchists. These are not always free-milling, but with the improved meth- 
ods of working will some time pay well. In fact, I think that the wealth 
of the Hills is in these immense low grade deposits. 

There seems to be a great " mother vein," so to speak, which has been 
traced many miles northerly and southerly through the Hills, and which 
in places carries auriferous pyrite disseminated through the vein to the 
width of several hundred feet. It is best known in the neighborhood of 
Pactola in Pennington county, and is not free-milling, except the decom- 
posed outcrop or gossan. The pyrite, however, can be concentrated 
cheaply, and afterward treated by a roasting and chlorination process. 

The best known claim on this great vein is the Gorman. At this point 
the vein shows large qualities of antimonial lead, carrying some silver and 
iron pyrite, the latter impregnating a zone about 400 feet in width, as 
shown by the cross-cut tunnel upon the claim. About sixteen miles west 
of this, in Rochford district, is a system of parallel veins, similar in many 
respects to the great gold mines in the northern Hills. Among them may 
be named the Stand-By , which has a sixty stamp mill, the Alta, California, 
and Evangeline, all carrying free gold at the surface, but passing into py- 
rite as the undecomposed portions of the veins are reached. 

To the southeast of Rochford twelve miles is located the Queen Bee, 
which yields concentrates of a good grade. This mine has a twenty 
stamp gold mill, and its owners are erecting a concentrating plant. 

In other parts of the county are the Grizzly Bear with twenty stamps, 
the Golden Safe, and St. Elmo, rive each, the Lookout with twenty, the 
Golden Summit with twenty stamps, and others. 

In Custer county a number of mills have been built upon veins similar 
to those described in the Rochford district. These mills paid so long as 
the ore was decomposed, and will pay again when proper methods of 
treatment are introduced. Among the better known claims may be men- 
tioned the Penobscott with twenty stamp, the Grand Junction with forty, 
the Golden Star with twenty stamps, and Hartford and Mayflower with 
ten each. 

TIN. 

This metal was discovered in the Hills in 1883. To whom the honor of 
the discovery belongs is already a matter of some question, but it is admit- 
ted that the first public announcement was made by Major A. J. Simmons 
of Rapid City, through the Journal of that place, in a communication un- 
der date of June 8, 1883. After sketching the geology of the " Etta Mica 
Mine." where the discovery was first made, with accuracy, and stating 
that time and exploration are needed to determine the value, he closes 
by saying: 

"At the present, however, the discovery must be regarded as one of 
the highest importance, and I venture to say that the indications already 
point to the existence of an extensive district of the mineral." 

In the same month he forwarded a box of the specimens to a San Fran- 
•isco capitalist, who sent Prof. Wm, P. Blake, a well-known mining en- 



174 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

gineer, to examine the find. After this the scientific world received in- 
formation of it through the American Journal of Science, in September of 
the same year. 

Tin mining i3 a new industry in America, and its development has of 
necessity been slow, but not slower than the development of the rich sil- 
ver mines of early days on the Pacific coast and in Colorado. It requires 
large sums of money to properly open these mines, and to build mills for 
the treatment of the ore. 

There are two well known tin districts in the Hills. One occupies a belt 
about four miles wide, lying around the northern and western flanks of 
Harney's Peak. It extends southward to a point six miles south of Cus- 
ter City. It will probably be found entirely encircling the granitic area 
of the Hills. The other section is located about sixteen miles southwest 
of Spearfish, where a small Archaean area has been laid bare by denuda- 
tion. 

The tin-stone is found in granitic veins or dykes in the earlier or schist- 
ose Archaean, shown upon the map, and which vary in width from a few 
inches to hundreds of feet. In some sections the veins consist of an 
albitic greisen, that is a rock composed of albile feldspar and 
mica, through which are disseminated crystals of cassiterite. In other 
sections, as upon the west side of Harney's Peak, the veins are composed 
of 'ypical greisen, that is quartz and mica. The crystals of cassiterite 
vary much in size, some having been found of several pounds weight; but 
generally they seem to partake of the nature of the greisen, that is, if the 
individual crystals of feldspar or quartz and mica are large, the accom- 
panying crystals of cassiterite are large, and vice verm. That through 
which the tin is finely disseminated is usually richer than the coarsely 
crystallized rocks. 

The percentage of tin-stone in the greisen varies, but there are many 
veins carrying rock yielding from 2 to 4 per cent. That this is by no 
means a small percentage may be seen by the following: 

In Altenburg* in Saxony, the yield is from one-half to 1 per cent. In 
Cornwall, as shown by the Government statistics, the yield of black tin 
for the whole county is less than 2 per 'cent. In the Palberro district in 
Cornwall, the average of all the ore crushed in five years was eighty-nine 
hundredths of 1 per cent., yet these mines yielded a fair profit. 

There have been many mines discovered and recorded in both the 
northern and southern sections. The latter is the more extensive section 
of the two, which is simply saying that here a larger Archaean area has 
been laid bare by erosion, and had the sedimentary rocks between the 
two sections been removed, the districts would doubtless have been found 
continuous. In the northern, or Nigger Hill district, as it is called, the 
best known claim is the Cleveland, owned by the American Tin company 
who have sunk a shaft to the depth of 160 feet. At the 100-foot etatfoW, 



* Mineral resource s of the United States, 1S88-84, nrtiele tin. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 175 

where a cross-cut has been driven, the vein is found to have a width ot 
over 200 feet, and to carry tin throughout, but a zone about thirty-feet 
wide near each wall is somewhat richer than the remainder of the lode. 
The company own about seventy claims, a mill site, water power, etc., 
and expect to operate upon a large scale. 

This district was first worked exclusively for gold, and in it were found 
rich placer diggings. The miners were troubled by the vast amount of 
"iron" which filled the riffles of their sluice-boxes and interfered with 
their work. It was harder to separate from the gold than the "iron" of 
other districts, for a magnet would not act upon it. No one suspected the 
black substance to be tin-stone, but such it was. The miners now save it, 
and several tons have been shipped to New York and to England. It is 
the opinion of the writer, who has thoroughly examined the district, that 
stream-tin mining as a business would pay. 

Other groups of mines in this section are controlled by the Callahan 
company, by Chapman & Hydliff, by Miller & Co., and by others. 

The first company to operate upon the tin deposits in the southern Hills 
was the Etta company. They bought a number of claims, but did their 
principal work upon the Etta, where tin was first found. The manage- 
ment of the company was left to parties who could have had no real 
knowledge of the subject of tin mining. Without having the mine suffi- 
ciently opened to supply a 20-ton mill, they erected a 200-ton mill, and 
used machinery which did not do the work, for the tailings from the mill, 
as sampled by a competent English engineer, and also by the writer, 
yield two per cent, tin stone; that is, the quantity wasted exceeded the 
average of all the ores mined in England, and was three times as great as 
the quantity which has been found to pay in Saxony. They crushed 
about four hundred tons of ore, which, notwithstanding the waste, yielded 
two per cent, black tin, which was shipped East. The management of the 
company has been severely criticized, and after the expenditure of about 
$350,000 they closed down, but immediately bonded sixty or seventy ad- 
ditional claims in the district, and secured the services of a well known 
English mining expert in the service of John Taylor's Sons, London. 

This gentle man spent several weeks in thoroughly examining and 
sampling the different claims of the company, and advised that certain 
work be done upon those bonded. The result of his examination was 
doubtless favorable, for all bonds so far that have fallen due have been 
paid, and during the present month, (June, 1887), the company have paid 
out in the purchase of these claims over $100,000. 

They have secured a mountain park of several hundred acres in extent, 
near Hill City, in Pennington county, water power, etc., and announced 
their intention to build their works at that point. Their plan of opera- 
tion also includes the building of a narrow guage railroad from Rapid City 
to that point, which railroad has already been surveyed. 
Other companies besides the Etta are preparing to work. Some Chicago 



176 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

capitalists recently purchased the Tin Mountain group of mines, near 
Custer City, which is said to be a veritable mountain of tin-bearing 
rock. Some masses of this, sent to the School of Mines at Rapid, yield- 
ed forty per cent, cassiterite. It is claimed that there are many 
thousands of tons of ore in sight that can be worked to a profit. Many 
claims are owned by prospectors and others who are not able to develop 
them. Others will be found,, for so far none has been sought for except 
those which outcrop, or show upon the surface. 

It will be seen from examination of the map that tin is found in three 
counties — Custer, Pennington and Lawrence. The writer has personally 
examined all the districts, and has made many assays of the ore. When 
sampled in quite large quantities it seldom runs below two per cent, and 
often yields four, six, eight, and even twelve per cent. These assays refer 
to averages taken across veins, dumps, sample lots, etc., for, of course, 
picked specimens can be easily had which are nearly pure cassiterite. 

COPPER. 

Copper is found in very many localities in the Hills. The largest veins 
are in the Archaean. At the surface they show carbonates and oxides, but 
will doubtless run into sulphide ore as depth is gained. The Blue Lead 
has been famous from the early settlement of the Hills. It shows a car- 
bonate stained out-crop several hundred feet in width. From French 
creek, in the southern Hills, copper ore is being shipped east. In the 
western part of Pennington county copper is found in the Potsdam in 
quantities that will some time pay to work. 

BUILDING STONE. 

A great variety exists in the Hills. The upper part of the Carboniferous 
limestone affords a fairly good " marble," nearly pure white. The Triassic 
or purple limestone is also locally called marble. It resembles the varie- 
gated marble from Tennessee, and takes a high polish. In the northern 
Hills is to be found a variety of porphyritic rock, at present too lux- 
urious to be thought of for building purposes, yet destined some time to 
be used. Every variety of sandstone — white, brown, red and variegated 
— exists, and is at present being used. The best known quarries of the 
latter are at Buffalo Gap. 

MICA. 

It was the working of the mica mines that led to the discovery of tin. It 
has been mined and shipped east in large quantities. 

GYPSUM. 

Surrounding the Hills upon every side is an inexhaustible supply of 
gypsum. It is found in beds of varying thickness up to thirty feet, and 
no part of the section marked Jura-trias upon the map is free from it. 
Its value is not seen now, but as the farms east become exhausted a market 
will be found for it. It is only used here at present as a white finish for 
plastered walls. 



GEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE 

Blagk HillaS op Dakota. 

After the Map of HENRY NEWTON, E. M. 
By FRANK R. CARPENTER, Dean Dakota School of Mines. 



Igneous. 
Tertiary. 
Cretaceous. 
Jura-Trias. 



i*5 6 * 



^ 



JCrook#T. 






chfor'd 



J Carboniferous. 

1 Cambrian. 

| Arch/ean. 

C Granite. 

_ IjEO-EIsTX). 

The Jura -Trias mark the outer 
limit of Timber. Quartz Gold is found 
throughout the Archaean rocki, but mainly 
in the Northern Hills. Gold and Silver 
are found in the Potsdam rocks in the 
Northern Hills. Copper is found in both 
Archaean and Potsdam locks. Placer 
Gold is found in the beds of :ill streams 
in the Archaean area. Mica Is found in 
paying quantities throughout the fin sec 
tlon. Coal is found in the Cretaceous 
rocks North and South of the Hills. 

S C B E Y 



stiver 









-x EX 




N C E 


■^L 




Creel' / 
Elk ^ — r 






^5^- 


Rapid City 










j* o wn 


& (Ay .^- 




^M^-^ 


^ Hennosa 




<-^s 2 f r/ '- 




/^ ^ 








-*Q^~ 





Jo Gap 



^ ^ 



york 



Scale of Miles. 

5 10 



j 104 jggjji ^IcXaTlt, <£ Co.,7Zn<tr's, Chicago. Tongituoe "West from ,J03 Greenwich. 



178 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

GOLD AND SILVER PRODUCED IN THE BLACK HILLS FROM 1877 TO 1887. 



Year. 



Black 


1877 


Hills 
estimates 

U.S. Mint 

statistics. 


"1878-9 

1880 

1881 

1882 

1883 

[ 1884 




1885.... 


Total... 


188G 



Production. 



Remarks. 



»2,000,000 

6,000,000 
5,000,000 
4,070,000 
3,475,000 
3,350,000 
8,450,000 
3,300,000 
3,125,000 



Largely placer; few mills in 
operation at this time. 

Mostly from milling opera- 
tions; the output from 
[■ placer diggings growing 
comparatively less each 
year. 

J 



$33,770,000 



The -Black Hills produce all the gold and silver mined in Dakota, and 
the four mines, "Homestake," " Dead wood-Terra," "Caledonia," and 
"Father De Smet," are credited with nearly the entire output. Other 
mines, with ore quite as rich in gold and silver as the four named, are 
awaiting capital for their development. 



"The poverty of the frontier, where all are engaged in a common strug- 
gle, and where a common sympathy and hearty co-operation lighten the 
burdens of each, is a very different poverty, different in kind, different in 
influence, and effect, from that conscious and humiliating indigence 
which is every day forced to contrast itself with neighboring wealth on 
which it feels a sense of grinding dependence. The poverty of the iron- 
tier is indeed no poverty. It is but the beginning of wealth, and has the 
boundless possibilities of the future always opening before it. " — [James 
G. Blaine. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 179 



ARTESIAN WELLS. 



The problem of a cheap and abundant supply of water has been solved 
in many Dakota towns, by sinking artesian wells. Probably, in no other 
locality of the Union can there be found so many artesian wells of as great 
•pressure, and supplying the immense quantity of water, as those flowing in 
Dakota today. They are in successful operation from Yankton, on the 
extreme southern boundary of the Territory, to Grafton, on the north, 
covering a distance of nearly 500 miles. 

In the city of Yankton more than a dozen of these wells, from a depth , 
of 550 to 600 feet, pour forth a bountiful supply of water— the increase in 
the number of wells not having the least effect on the flow or pressure 
from the underground source. In Clay, Yankton, and some of the coun- 
ties of the Red River valley, artesian wells are common, both in town and 
country. 

The art of drilling wells to tap a subterranean reservoir of water, con- 
fined by such force as should throw it to, or near the surface, is of an- 
cient origin. Artesian wells are occasionally alluded to by the ancient 
writers, and, among the Chinese, this method of obtaining water has been 
in practice from time immemorial. In the province of On Tong, in a dis- 
trict ten leagues long by four leagues wide, these wells may be counted by 
tens of thousands, sunk at very remote periods, for the salt which flowed 
out in the water. All of these wells are very deep — some having been 
drilled down even to 3,000 feet. 

The name " Artesian " is derived from the province of Artois, in France, 
-anciently called Artesium, in which artesian wells have long been in use. 

There is nothing strange or marvelous connected with the flow of arte- 
sian wells. The principle is precisely that of a reservoir system of water- 
works, or of the artificial fountains, common everywhere. By storing a 
supply of water in a receptacle, at some high point, and carrying it in 
pipes to a lower level — convenient water-power is obtained. Nature has 
constructed a vast system of underground water-works on the same plan 
— the pervious strata of sand rock underlying the earth's surface at vari- 
ous depths, serving as pipes to coiiTey the water from the far distant res- 



180 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

ervoir, or source of supply — which, in the instance of Dakota, is probably 
the mountainous regions of Wyoming and Montana. 

Prof. Chamberlin, writing of artesian wells, defines the essential features 
of artesian streams, as follows: 

"To fashion a simple idea of the common class of flowing, wells, picture 
to the mind a pervious stratum, through which water can readily pass. 
Below this let there be a w T ater-tight bed, and let a similar one lie upon 
it, so that it is securely embraced between impervious layers. Suppose 
the edges of these layers to come to the surface in some elevated region, 
(save that they may be covered with soil and loose surface materia),) 
while in the opposite direction they pitch down to considerable depths, 
and either come up again to the surface at some distance, thus forming a 
basin, or else terminate in such a way that water cannot escape in 
that direction. Now, let rain-fall and surface waters penetrate the ele- 
vated edge of the porous bed, and till it to the brim. That such beds are 
so filled is shown by ordinary wells, which commonly find a constant sup- 
ply in them at no great depth. Now, it is manifest that if such a water- 
fat bed be tapped by a boring at some point lower than its outcrop, the 
water will rise and flow at the surface because of the higher head in the 
upper edge of the bed. If the surface water continually supplies the up- 
per edge as fast as the water is drawn off below, the flow will be constant. 

"To fashion a simple illustration , conceive a piece of lead tube to be in- 
clined and filled with sand, the lower end being closed; let water be 
poured in until the sand is completely saturated. Now, a minature flow- 
ing w T ill be formed by drilling a small hole near the lower end. The wa- 
ter in the sand will run out, and. if renewed at the upper end, the flow 
will be continuous." 

The leading conditions upon which artesian flows depend are involved 
in the foregoing simple conception. 

The same authority says, that the only reliable source of artesian wells are 
porous beds of sand, gravel, sandstone, conglomerate, and other less com- 
mon rocks of loose, granular texture. Coarse-grained sand-rock consti- 
tutes the ordinary form of water-bearing strata. 

The adaptability of these strata lies in the construction of the rock 
from separate particles, loosely put together, leaving small open spaces 
between them. The Quartenary sandstones, as a general rule, have the 
greatest degree of porosity, and constitute the best water-carriers; the 
Tertiary sandstones next, and so on — the consolidation and texture vary- 
ing with the age of the formation. 

The confining strata above and below this bed of porous water-bearing 
rock are, usually, layers of fine, unhardened clay, clayey shales, shaly 
limestones, shaly sandstones, or some one of the various crystalline rocks, 
ranking, as regards imperviousness, in the order named. 

On the question of the decline of the w r ater supply from artesian wells be- 
cause of exhaustion, or the frequent tapping of the water-bearing strata, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 181 

Prof. Chamberlain says, — the too current notion that a subterranean pool, 
which has been struck by a well, supplies it for a time and then becomes 
exhausted, may be dismissed without much consideration. Especially is 
this true of the artesian wells of Dakota, which, from the great depth at 
which the currents of water are reached, indicate a far-distant reser- 
voir and a permanent supply. 

At Lillers, France, an artesian well has been in steady operation since 
the year 1126. The artesian wells of London, England, the provinces of 
France, and of Ou Tong, China, have been flowing for years, an unvarying 
supply of water. And, at home, the constant flow of wells in Wis- 
consin, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina, 
Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri prove the adequacy of the supply at the re- 
spective fountain-heads. 

A temporary decline of the flow may occur by reason of the filling up 
of the bore with mud, sand, and loose rock; the collapse of the pipe, be- 
cause of the wearing effects of the corrosive ingredients in the water; 
faulty and defective piping, which will permit of lateral leakage, or from 
other causes; but a cessation of the flow because of the exhaustion of the 
supply, may be considered as disproved by science and history. 

At Columbia, Aberdeen, Yankton, Grafton, and other points in Dakota, 
the flow of water has decreased at different times, from the stoppage of 
the pipes with gravel, rock, and debris. But a removal of the obstruc- 
tion has always resulted in restoring the original flow and pressure. 

At Grafton, an iron bar, eight feet long and two inches in diameter, was 
inadvertently dropped into the artesian well, causing a serious decrease in 
the flow. But, suddenly, the water rushed forth with great power, and 
threw out the iron bar with such force as to break the elbow of the main 
pipe, and the flow is since unabated. 

In France, a convenient water-power is derived from the force of the 
artesian flows, sufficient to run heavy machinery, and is applied to many 
industries. The advantages of a power of this sort, are apparent, and a 
few of the Dakota towns have already imitated the example set by 
France, in utilizing the pressure of artesian water for supplying a motive 
power. 

The original outlay for sinking the well is the only expense required, 
and this, in Dakota, need not exceed what would be the cost of engines 
and boilers furnishing a power equivalent to that of the well. 

At Yankton, (Yankton county,) a six-inch well has just been completed, 
the power derived from which is utilized for operating the machinery 
plant of a pressed brick manufactory. The well is about 550 feet deep, 
and the hydrostatic expert estimates that 1,800 gallons of water issues 
every minute, exerting a pressure of fifty-eix pounds to the square inch; 
which, he figures, will furnish a gross power of thirty- three horses. 

A local paper thus describes the success attending the venture: 

"The machinery at Miner & Co.'s brick yard was connected with the 



182 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

water-wheel, and moved by the weight of water from the artesian well, 
last Tuesday, and henceforth the institution will have no use for steam. 
The new motor does its work perfectly. How much power it furnishes 
has not been definitely determined, but the makers of the wheel guar- 
antee thirty horse-power. It does the work that heretofore kept a thirty 
horse-power engine busy, with ease, and, apparently, with force to spare. 

" Here is a practical demonstration of the value of Yankton's subterra- 
nean water-power. It is an ideal power. Its employment does away 
with the cost of fuel to generate steam, with the salary of an engineer, 
with the expense of the purchase and repair of delicate and expensive 
motive machinery, with the payment of extra-hazard insurance rates. A 
child can start or stop the wheel that supplies motion to a large industry. 
This power never blows up, never runs down, never freezes up, never 
dries up; but will run on and on, year after year, the same in all seasons, 
with a minimum of cost for maintaining the simplest gearing. 

" The well at the brick-yard is a six-inch bore. Its cost was about $3,000. 
It is the second one of the same size made here, and is better than the 
first, yielding a larger flow with a stronger pressure. It demonstrates the 
inexhaustible character of the stream or reservoir which both wells tap. 
For, if it were not practically inexhaustible, the second opening of the 
same vein, even though it had been smaller than the first, would have 
operated like 'the little rift within the lute,' withdrawing the pressure 
and rendering the first well valueless. An eight-inch well would nearly 
double the capacity of this one; a larger one would increase the capacity 
in the same ratio." 

The flourtng-mill, oil-mill, and the other manufacturing establishments 
located at Yankton, will run their machinery by artesian well-power as 
soon as the wells can be drilled. One of these institutions expends each 
year $4,000 for fuel, and estimates that for one-half of this sum, an arte- 
sian well can be obtained, which will furnish sufficient power to run all 
the machinery. 

The practicability of adapting this power to the operation of heavy 
machinery is now satisfactorily demonstrated, and the example set by 
Yankton will be followed immediately, no doubt, by many cities of the 
twenty-nine counties where artesian wells only await the application of 
the wheel and belt. 

Why should not this inexpensive and everlasting power lead to the 
building up of manufacturing interests in the Territory, as rapidly and 
extensively as cheap coal and natural gas did in the instance of the states 
of Pennsylvania and Ohio ? 

At Huron, the artesian well, costing but $4,000 — a sum not out of com- 
parison with the cost of ordinary steam machinery — supplies a tremen- 
dous volume of water each minute, with more than three times the pres- 
sure of the one at Yankton. The pressure of the water from this well is 
so great that no make of water-mains could withstand its full power. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 183 

The force of the water is weakened by allowing a three-inch stream of 
water to run away from the well, and even Ihen there is power and vol- 
ume for fire protection and to supply all the necessities of a city of several 
thousand inhabitants, besides providing the force for a number of water- 
motors used in printing offices and other establishments. 

Here, certainly, is a well costing no more than a plant of steam ma- 
chinery, which would furnish a uniform and invariable motive power suf- 
ficient to operate the largest mill or manufactory— and at a saving of the 
heavy annual expense for fuel, engineer's and fireman's salary, outlay for 
repairs, etc., etc. The same is true of the wells at Miller, Aberdeen, 
Groton, Columbia, and other points. 

In many instances, the cost of sinking an artesian well would be no more 
than the cost of coal for a single year to an establishment run by steam 
power. Power, to any extent, can be obtained by either increasing the 
size of the bore, or the number of wells— it being evident that two wells 
of the same size, and flowing the same volume of water, at an equal pres- 
sure, would give twice the power of a single well. 

The development of artesian well power, in Dakota, is yet in its infancy. 
But no one, who gives the matter the least study, can doubt that with 
wells everywhere throughout the Territory, flowing so heavy and con- 
stant a volume of water, and at such great pressure, we are on the eve of 
a period of wonderful progress in the building, up of our manufacturing 
interests. 

Towns in .the Territory, where the question of obtaining artesian well 
power has already been settled affirmatively — will take a step forward 
in the development of manufacturing interests, by fostering tow mills, 
oil mills, flour mills, woolen mills, canning and packing establishments, 
and other industries suitable to the surroundings. This will lead neigh- 
boring cities to put forth the most strenuous efforts to tap the power hid- 
den beneath our feet, and, speaking generally, there is no reason why 
these ventures should not all prove successful. 

If no other results were to be obtained from the sinking of artesian wells 
than a cheap and abundant supply of water, and a splendid fire protec- 
tion, as has been done in dozens of the towns of Dakota, the value to the 
people of the Territory of these underground reservoirs, is beyond com- 
parison. 

By a study of the table accompanying this article, showing in detail the 
various strata penetrated by the artesian wells, it will be observed that 
the geological formation of the Territory contains all the essential features 
which scientists tell us are the pre-requisite of flowing wells. The 
water is found in coarse-grained sand rock, which has above it a confin- 
ing stratum of shale, clay, or lime rock. The same strata undoubtedly 
underlie the entire Territory, though it may be necessary in some locali- 
ties to go to a great depth before striking the water-bearing rock. 

This office has given considerable time and labor to the collection of all 



184 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

the available information concerning some of the more important artesian 
wells of the Territory, and a compilation, the result of these efforts, is 
given in the tables on the succeeding pages. It is believed that the data 
furnished will prove interesting to geologists and drillers, as well as to 
parties intending to sink wells. The tables enumerate only a few of the 
wells, and the data is not complete in some instances — though so far as 
figures are given, they were obtained from civil authorities, and may be 
considered reliable. 

As to the limit in depth the bore should penetrate before the enterprise 
is abandoned as a failure, geologists seem to agree that no invariable rule 
can be laid down. However, to quote from a leading authority, "there is 
one, of wide application whose observance would save the useless expen- 
diture of large sums: The Archaean rocks (granite, gneiss, etc) are ex- 
ceedingly unpromising of success in themselves and do not overlie pro- 
ductive beds. Whenever, therefore, in the progress of drilling, these are 
struck, work should cease, unless there are specific local facts warranting 
a deviation from the rule." 

When the water-bearing rock is found, the height to which the water 
would rise, if suitably tubed, may be computed by attaching a pressure 
guage and figuring a rise of 2.31 feet for each pound of pressure per square 
inch. 

The temperature of the water from artesian wells partakes of the tem- 
perature of the earth, which increases as its interior, is penetrated, at an 
average rate of one degree for every fifty or sixty feet. 

The increase of the temperature of the water with the depth 
penetrated, varies at different places. At Huron, where the mean tem- 
perature at the surface is 42° the water of the artesian well is 60° from a 
depth of 863 feet, which is about 1° for every forty-eight feet. At Yank- 
ton, the temperature of the water is 16° higher than the mean tempera- 
ture at the surface, making the increase 1° for only thirty-eight feet of 
descent. The average rate of increase for the Territory seems to be about 
1° added to the temperature of the water for every forty- seven feet of the 
earth's surface penetrated. 

Artesian water is mineralized, to a greater or less degree, from having 
dissolved the soluble constituents of the strata through which it perco- 
lates. In the wells of Dakota, these constituents are such as have imparted 
to the water, undoubted hygienic and remedial properties and are in 
nowise to be considered unfortunate, although the water sometimesis not 
pleasant to the taste. The artesian water is almost invariably soft and of 
excellent quality for general household purposes. 

Inquiries were sent out by this office for the purpose of ascertaining 
the exact number of artesian wells in operation in Dakota, but in quite a 
number of instances, the requests remain unanswered. 

So far as known, there are twenty-nine counties of the Territory where 
artesian water is a settled fact, having distributed among them ninety- 
seven wells. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 185 

ANALYSES OF ARTESIAN WATEKS IN DAKOTA. 

Jamestown — Organic matter: Free ammonia, 2.4 parts per million; al- 
buminoid ammonia, .046 parts per million; nitrites, traces; nitrates, none. 

INORGANIC MATTER. 

Silica 35.70 2.0823 

Alumina 3.50 .2041 

Carbonate of iron 2.20 .1233 

Carbonate of lime 188.00 10.7643 

SulDhate of lime 249.00 14.5243 

Sulphate of magnesia 154.20 8.9944 

Sulphate of soda '. 1139.40 66.3602 

Chloride of sodium : 369.10 21.5296 

Sulphate of potash 31.05 4.7526 

Phosphates a trace 

Hardness 21° 

Yankton — Water slightly hard; pleasant to the taste; is used in boilers, 

and gives good satisfaction. 

Highmore — Water very soft, and of good quality. 

Total solid grains per gallon 103.53 

Carbonate of lime 1.92 

Carbonate of magnesia 1.69 

Sulphate of lime 0.46 

Oxides of iron, silica, and aluminum 2.33 

Alkali chlorides 28.04 

Alkali sulphates 69.09 

Miller — Water excellent, and good for all purposes. 

Ipswich — Water very soft; contains soda, potassium, and allied salts; 
tastes slightly brackish. 

Groton — Water of excellent quality, but very much discolored, because 
of mud and debris flowing out of well. 

Columbia — Water contains mineral properties; very soft. 

Grafton — Three per cent, of salt in water, and slight trace of sulphate 
of magnesia. 

Ellendale — Water not pleasant to the taste; very soft. 

Tower City — 

Grains in one U. S. gallon. 

Solid matter, upon evaporation to dryness 180.000 

Sediment none 

Scale, (deposited on evaporation to one-tenth bulk) 4.S94 

Silica... 0.194 

Alumina and oxide of iron 0.374 

Lime 3.604 

Magnesia 0.114 

Carbonic acid not det. 

Sulphuric acid, free none 

Sulphuric acid, in combination 31.990 

Chlorine, free none 

Chlorine, in combination 6.880 

Potask and soda residuum 



186 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



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189 



ALTITUDES. 
Table of altitudes in Dakota, compiled from a bulletin of the United States Geological 

Survey. 



Station. 


Authority. 


Elevation. 






Feet. 
2,211 


Alcester 


Dak. Cent. R. R 


1,355 




C. & N. W. K. R 


1,834 


Apple Creek valley 


N. P. R. R 


1,711 


Aurora 


C. &N. W. R. R 


1,630 


Austin 




1,221 


Belrield 


N. P. R. R 


2,577 


Bennett, Fort, signal station 


U. S. signal office 


1,440 


Bereslord 


Dak. Cent. R. R 


1,505 


Berthold, Fort 




1,873 
1,479 




C, M. &St. P. R. R 


Bismarck 


N. P. R. R 


1,668 


Bismarck, signal station .. 




1 677 




N. P. R. R 


1 616 


Blue Lake 


F. & S. W. R. R 


1.965 


Bo is des Sioux 


Toner 


1,039 


Brochel Lake 


Nicollet 


1,860 


Brookings 


C. & N. W. R. R 


1,636 


Buford. Fort 


Smithsonian Institute 


2,017 


Buford Fort, signal station 


U. S. signal office 


1,876 


Bur bank 


S. C. & D. R. R 


1,158 


Cauistota 




1,555 


Can ova 


Dak. Cent. R. K 


1.525 




S. C. & D. R. R 


1,291 


Carthage 


Dak. Cent. R. R 


1,440 




N. P. R. R 


930 


Cavour 


«'. & N. W. R. R 


1.311 


Centreville 


Dak. Cent. R. R 


1,233 


Clark 


Dak. Cent. R. R 


1,785 






1 827 


Cleveland 


N. P. R. R 


1,840 






1,800—2,000 






1,500—1,800 


Cotter's Depot 

Crook's Tower 


F. &S. W. R. R 

Jenney 


909 
7,600 


Davenport Depot 

Davis Junction 


F. & S. W. R. R 


921 


S. (!. & D. R. R 


1,130 


De Smet 


U. S. signal office 


4,630 


C. & N. W R. R 


1,726 






2,403 


Devils Lake 


T nomas 


1,467 


Doland 


Dak. Cent. R. R 




Driscoll 


N. P. R. R 


1 835 




S. 0. & P. R. R 


1,239 




C M & St. P. R. R 


1,510 
1,142 


Elk Point 


S. 0. & D. R. R 




N. P. R. * 


1,447 




N. P. R. R 


1,432 


Esmond 


Dak. Cent. R. R 


1.480 




C. &N. W. R R 


1,542 


Fairview 


S. C. & D. R. R 


1,231 




N. P. K. R 


903 




St. P.&S. O. R R 

C, M. & St, P. K. R 


1,320 




1.550 




Dak. Cent. R R 


1,296 




C. &N. W. R. R 


1,484 


Gaxsville 


S. C. & D. R. R 


1,178 




N. P. R. R 


2,346 


Glen Ullin 


N. P. R. R 


2,070 




C. & N. W. R R 


1,996 


Greenwood 


Smithsonian Institute 


1,900 






9 700 




St P. & C R. R 


1,561 
1 182 




Dak. Cent. R. R ... 


Henry 


Oak. Cent. R. R 


1,810 




C, M. &St. P. R. R 

C, M. & St. P. R. R 


1.6D4 


Herman, Lake 


1,646 




F. & S. W. R. R 


917 




Dn.k. flHiit R. Yi 


1 272 







190 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 
table of altitudes in Dakota — Continued. 



Station. 


AUTHORITY. 


Elevation. 




C. & N. W. A. R 


Feet. 
1 285 




»'. &N. W. R. k 


1,312 
1 401 




C. & N. W. R. R 




N. P R. R 


1 895 




S & D. R. R 


1 130 




C. &N. W R. R 


1,650 




C. * N. W. R. R 


1,714 




P. R. R. reports 

C. &N. AV. R. R 


2.431 




1,982 




N. P. R. R 


2 256 






5 500 


McCook 


S. 0. & D. K. R 


1.123 




X. P R. R 


1,696 




C. M & St. P. R. R 


1,576 




N. P. R. R : 


1 G44 




N. P. R R 


908 


Meek ling 


S C. & D. R R 

C, M &St. P R. R 

St P. & C. R. R 

N. P. R. R '.. 


1,167 




1 149 


Montrose Siding 


1471 

1 206 




i:.,M & St. P. R. R 

C. & N W R. R 


1,646 




1.816 




Nico let 


1.341 




N. P. R. R 


1.240 




Dak. Cent. R. R 


1,310 
7i)l 








<\ & N. W. R. R 


1,438 




C. & N. W. R. R 


1,696 


Randall, Fort 


Medical department TJ S.A 
Medical department!!. S. A. 
N. P. R. R 


1,245 




1.438 




2 464 


Richland 




1 247 


6 . u-m 


St. P. & S. C. R. R 


1 M7 




N. P. R. R 


1 ,460 


Sedalia 


X. !'. R. R 


2.03§ 




N. P. R. R 


2 707 




N. P. R. R 


1 200 




N. P. R. R 


1,960 


Sioux Falls 


S. C & D. R H 


1 411 


Si mix Fulls 

Sioux Falls 


C., M. & St. P. R. R 

St J' & S C R R 


1,638 
1.387 

l,4i>6 


('.. M. & St. P. R. R 


South Heart 


N. P. K. R 


2 470 




N. P. R R 


1 477 






2,120 




N. P. R R 

U. S.. signal office 


1.857 


Stevenson, Fort, signal station 

Sully. Fort 

Sullv Spring 


1,734 

1 c>x$ 


N. P. R. R 


1,647 


Tappe'n 


N. P. R. R 


1,760 


Thorne 


1.480 


Union Fort 




1.970 


Valley Citv 


N. P. R. R 


1.218 




St. P. & S. C R. R 

S. C. & I). R R 


1 392 




1.161 




Dak. Cent. R. R 


1.480 




S. C. & H. R. R 


1.221 




C & N. W. R R 


' 1 636 


Wadsworth, Fort .-. 




1.891 

1.650 


Warren's Peak 




6,90© 


Dak. < ent. R. R 


1 735 




N. P. R. R 


983 


Yankton 


S. V.. &D. R. R 


1.198 




Smithsonian Institute 

T T . P sie'ial office 


1.900 




1 228 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 191 



SCHOOLS. 



The remarkable growth and development of Dakota, during the period 
of six years past, has never been equaled in the history of the settlement 
of the West, and in no one particular is the statement more emphatic 
than when applied to the rapid advance of the cause of education. The 
people of the Territory point with pride and satisfaction'to the 4,000 pub- 
lic schools dotting the broad prairies, and indicating to the traveler each 
township of the Government survey with almost infallible accuracy. 

To the family contemplating a change of home, a question of vital im- 
portance is: What are the facilities offered in the new country for the ed- 
ucation of children? A study of the facts and figures relative to the 
growth of public schools and other educational institutions in the Terri- 
tory, will convince the reader that few, even, of the old states offer more 
encouragement in this respect than is held out by Dakota. The class of 
settlers attracted within her borders have been exclusively industrious, 
thrifty and of good morals, and among the first enterprises begun in the 
new community, were buildings for schools and religious worship. So that 
now a drive across the prairie in any direction will lead one by the 
typical country school-houses, nicely painted, neatly kept and separated 
from one another by distances of only a few miles. The intending settler 
is assured that whatever may be his views of Dakola formed after a per- 
gonal visit and investigation, in at least the one matter of school facilities 
his highest expectations cannot possibly be disappointed. 

The following summary of school statistics for the year 1887 is abridged 
from the annual report of Governor L. K. Church to the Secretary of the 
Interior. A study of these figures must convince the reader that not- 
withstanding the w r onderful growth of this Empire of the Northwest, the 
cause of education has not been overlooked, but, if anything, has kept in 
advance of the progress in other directions: 



li»2 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

EXHIBIT OF GROWTH. 
1875. 



Youth of school age 

Enrolled in public schools 

Average daily attendance 

Ungraded schools '. 

Average number days taught 

Whole number teachers 

Aveiage monthly pay of men , 

Average monthly pay of women...., 

Value of school property 

Expenditures for school purposes. 



1879. 



8,848 

4,428! 



1883. 



18& 



208| 

$35; 

$25 
$24,926 

$32,603! 



18,535 56,476 109,475 

9,822 33,988 87,131 

4,681 20,560 58,379 

315 1,356 3,856 

97 93 112 

464 1,517 4.924 

$36 $39.70 $34.81 

$25 $30.70 $30.36 

$133,952: $937,764 $3,265,590 

$75,959! $529,837; $1 ,633,501 



"The foregoing table shows somewhat of the remarkable growth made by 
Dakota and her school system during the twelve years, beginning with 
1875, and ending with 1887. Not only do these figures show a vast in- 
crease in the school population and a consequent increase in the number 
enrolled, but it shows that in proportion to the whole number, a larger 
per cent, of the children are enrolled in the schools; and further, that 
those enrolled are attending more regularly than in the fore part of 
the period covered by these statistics. In 1875 only 53 per cent, of the 
children of school age were enrolled in the schools, and the same per 
cent, in 1879. In 1883 the per cent, had increased to 62, while the report 
of 1887 shows that 79 per cent, of the school population attended school 
for the whole or a part of the year. During the year 1879 only 25 per 
cent, of the school population were in regular attendance at school. The 
percent, of the population attending regularly in 1883, increased to 37, 
while in 1887 we make the magnificent showing of 53 per cent, attending 
every day, for the whole term of 112 days. In this respect Dakota leads 
nearly all of the states. 

"The whole number of teachers has increased from 208, in 1875, to 4,924, 
in 1887, but the average wages, for the same period, shows a slight de- 
crease for the male teachers, while the wages of the female teachers has 
increased from $25 in 1875, to $30.36 in 1887. 

"The school population multiplied thirteen times during the period from 
1875, and at the same time the number of schools multiplied twenty times. 
In 1875 there was one school for every forty pupils of school age, and in 
1887 there is one school for every twenty-eight of the children of school 
age. These figures explain in part the more general and regular atten- 
dance during the last years of the period, but only in part. Much of the in- 
crease in the attendance is doubtless due to the increase in the wealth of 
the people. Many parents in the early days were compelled to keep 
their children at home to work in various capacities on the farm. The 
steady prosperity of these years has given many more of the comforts of 
life, and has enabled parents not only to do without the service of the 
children, but to provide them with books and clothing necessary to attend 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 193 

the schools. The real object and best results of the public school will be 
most nearly realized in that community where tbe largest proportion of 
the population comes most directly under the influence ot the school. In 
these items Dakota bears comparison with any of the older states of the 
East, which surely argues that she has accomplished much in the few 
years since the organization of her school system. 

COMPARISON WITH OTHER STATES. 

Probably no state or territory in the Union has had such a remarkably 
growth of Dakota. Sureiy, none has accomplished so much in the same 
length of time; indeed, many have not achieved such headway in afar 
longer period. What we have done, is shown in our growth; what we aie, 
is best shown in comparison with other states. 

In school population, Dakota leads Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Nevada, 
New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and all of me tein- 
tories. 

In the number of her teachers, Dakota is ahead of Arkansas, Canrornia, 
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana. Maryland, Nevada, 
New Jersey, New Hampshire, Oregon, Soutn Carolina, Tennessee, Ver- 
mont, and West Virginia. 

Dakota has more days of school than Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, 
Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, South Caro- 
lina, Tennessee, West Virginia, or any of the territories, except Arizona 
and Utah. 

In the value of her school property, Dakota exceeds all of the states 
and territories, except California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 
Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New 
York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. 

In the amount of expenditures for the support of the public schools, 
Dakota is in the lead of the same list, including Connecticut. 

But it is in the proportion of her children enrolled that Dakota stands 
most favorable comparison. Upon careful comparison with the reports 
of the other states and territories for 1885, it is found that Connecticut, 
Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire and Rhode Island are 
the only states that show a larger proportion of their children enrolled in 
the public schools. Many of them are far below Dakota in this most im- 
portant particular. With the exception of the states of Connecticut, 
Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada and New Hampshire, 
Dakota leads the van in the proportion of the pupils enrolled that attend 
regularly. 

When it is considered that Dakota's population is scattered over such a 
wide area, that she is supposed to be more unfavorably situated as to her 
climate, and that her soil has, until a few years ago, been considered use- 
less in maintaining civilized life — this feature of the report is, perhaps, the 
most surprising to those unfamiliar with the work of education in this 
Territory, and the most satisfactory to those interested in the educational 
progress of Dakota. 

(7) 



194 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

DAKOTA'S SCHOOL EXPENDITURES, IN 1*85, COMPARED WITH OTHER STATES AND TERRTT>RrF.S. 



States. 



4? WYOMING TEIi 
40 NEW MEXICO, 



45 AlilZOXA. 
44 IDAHO, 



43 NEVADA, 
42 DELAWARE, 
41 MONTANA, 



40 UTAH, 

39 WASHINGTON TER., 

38 FLORIDA, 

37 SOUTH CAROLINA, 

30 LOUISIANA, 



>5 OREGON, 



34 NORTH CAROLINA, 
33 ALABAMA, 



A 7no.ui:*. y Dollars. 

'S.504 

.8.973 

107,879 

123^368 

162 ,01-2 

~~ 215. toi 



225,890 




Dakota expended in 1886 for same purpose $l,917,'258. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 195 

These are statements the people have a right to be proud of and the 
more so when it is understood that every dollar of the school land is 
raised by a direct lax. there being no fund available from the disposal of 
school lands until after statehood is attained. 

In each township two sections of land (sixteen and thirty -six, v or 1,260 
acres, are set apart, under the National land laws, for the support of the 
schools, which are to be available when Dakota is admitted as a state. It 
is estimated that the Territory's school lands will amount to considerably 
over 5,000,000 acres, which, if sold at the ruling price of today, would create 
the largest educational fund ever belonging to an organized state. 

Educational affairs are -in the hands of a Territorial superintendent of 
public instruction appointed biennially by the governor, and confirmed 
by the Legislature, and of a Territorial board of education, consisting of 
three members, of which the superintendent of public instruction is presi- 
dent. Each organized county has a superintendent of schools who is 
chosen by the people, in June of each even-numbered year. 

The township organization is controlled by a board of directors, one for 
each sub-district, and one at large. Women, twenty-one years of age, are 
eligible to any school office, and those having the care and custody of 
children, are qualified voters at all school elections. At present thirteen 
women are holding the office of county superintendent of schools and 
they are said to average better than the men in ability and application 
to their duties. 

The Bible may not be excluded from any public school, or deemed a 
sectarian book and the law requires that the highest standard of morals be 
taught. 

School attendance is compulsory in all children from ten to fourteen 
years of age, for at least twelve weeks in each school year, six of which 
must be consecutive, unless such children are excused by the school 
authorities for good reasons. 

School revenue is raised by two kinds of taxation, viz.: 

First. A county tax of two mills on each one dollar of taxable property, 
and a poll tax of one dollar on each elector, the fund arising from which 
is distributed among the school districts in the county, in proportion to 
the population. 

Second. Either a local school district tax, which must not exceed three 
per cent, of the taxable property of the district in which it is levied, or, the 
patrons of any given school may -meet in what is known as a sub-district 
meeting and vote an additional tax upon their own property for the sup- 
port of the school of their own sub-district, 

" In many of the cities and towns of the Territory," says the Governor 
in his annual report, " graded and high schools are maintained that will 
bear comparison with any of the schools of the cities in older states, as to 
their equipment, the efficiency of their teachers, or the scholarship of 
their pupils. The affairs of these schools are usually administered by a 



196 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



special board of education. This board employs a superintendent, who 
gives a part of his time, if not all, to the supervision of the work of the 
other teachers, and to maintaining a regular and graded system of instruc- 
tion. The schools are usually kept open during eight or nine months of 
the year. The departments are generally designated as primary, gram- 
mar, ana high school, respectively. Several of these schools are gradua- 
ting classes at each annual commencement; among these, the schools of 
Fargo, Sioux Falls, Grand Forks, Yankton, Aberdeen, Huron, Mitchell, 
Watertown, Bismarck, and others, might be mentioned." 

The following is a tabulated list of the most important of the city 
schools, with all the statistical information obtainable regarding them: 

CITIES HAVING AN ENROLLMENT OP OVER 400 PUPILS. 



City. 


Principal. 


No. oi 
teachers. 


No. of 

pupils. 


Fargo 


E. H.Smith 


20 
19 
13 
19 

7 

8 

9 

11 


1052 


Sioux Falls 


L. McCartne v 


773 


Grand Forks 


C. H. Clemmer 


719 


Yankton 


A. F. Bartlette 


717 


Watertown 


S. A. Foster 


458 


Aberdeen 


B. F. Hood 


455 


Mitchell 


H. E. Kratz 


450 


Huron 


E. C. Patterson 


450 



CITIES HAVING AN ENROLLMENT OP BETWEEN 200 AND 400 PUPILS. 



City. 



Bismarck.... 
Scotland...... 

Mandan 

Grafton 

Dead wood .. 

Redfieid 

Valley City. 
Brookings.... 

Lisbon 

Milbank 

Pierre 

Lead City.... 
Wahpeton.... 
Vermillion. . 

Canton 

*Janiestown. 



Principal. 



C. D. Abbey 

Geo. A. McFarland 

A. S. Parsons 

Professor Woods 

A. T. Free 

F. S. Beede 

E. Winterer 

Merrill Robinson.... 
W. E. Goodrich 

G. W. Peavy 

F. C. McClelland 

L. H. Fell 

W. C. Crocker 

E. E. Collins 

W. H. Fort 

O. T. Denny 



No. of 
teachers. 



No. of 
pupils. 



10 


350 


5 


286 


6 


262 


6 


258 


6 


230 


4 


226 


4 


224 


4 


220 


4 


216 


4 


215 


4 


213 


4 


210 


4 


200 


4 


200 


4 


200 



* Not reported. 

The cause of higher education is provided for by seven Territorial insti- 
tutions and fourteen private colleges, universities and academies. 

The Territorial institutions are the Agricultural College, Brookings; 
University of north Dakota, Grand Forks; the University of Dakota, Ver- 
million; the State Normal School, Madison; the Normal School, Spearfish; 
the School of Mines, Rapid City ; and the Dakota School for Deaf Mutes, 
Sioux Falls. 

A brief description of each will be found on the succeeding pages. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



197 




COLLEGE HALL. AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, BROOKINGS. 



THE DAKOTA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, BROOKINGS, BROOKIXGS COUNTY. 

Faculty— President, Lewis McLouth, A. M. Ph. D., professor of chemis- 
try and physics; George Lilley, LL. D., professor of mathematics; Luther 
Foster, B. S , professor of agriculture; Stephen G. Updyke, M. S., pro- 
fessor of English, elocution, and history; Robert F. Kerr, A. M., principal 
preparatory department, professor of political economy; I. H. Orcutt, M. 
D. Ph., D., professor of zoology, entomology, and physiology; S. P. Lap- 
ham, professor of music; Charles A. Keffer, acting professor of botany, 
forestry, and horticulture; Charles P. Beck with, B. S., assistant professor 
of chemistry and physics; Dalinda Mason, B. S., professor of domestic 
economy; Nellie E. Folsom, B. S., preceptress, assistant in English, his- 
tory, and language; Nancy L. VanDoren, librarian. 

Total cost of buildings, apparatus, permanent improvements, etc... $100,140 
Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-88 42,896 

It is proposed to make the school one in which the young men and 
women of Dakota while they are gaining a good thorough college educa- 
tion, shall also be taught various branches of manual industry. Farming, 
gardening, care of stock, carpentry, blacksmithing, the various parts of 
the machinist's trade for the young men, will occupy them for two 



198 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

hours each day. The various branches of domestic economy, marketing, 
cooking, serving food, cutting, fitting and making clothing, type writing, 
telegraphy, etc., will occupy the young women a corresponding time 
each dav. The courses of study are such as commonly lead to the Bach- 
elor of Science degree— arc strong in zoology, botany, chemistry, mathe- 
matics, physics, history, the English language, literature, book-keeping, 
political economy, and business forms and laws. Much attention is also 
given to the science of agriculture, horticulture, fruit-raising and forestry, 
as well as to domestic hygiene and all the arts of home-making. 

PI 




During the past year nearly 300 students were enrolled and eleven 
teachers employed. The college is equipped with fine chemical labora- 
tory surveying, engineering and physical apparatus to the value of $2,500; 
a farm of 400 acres, herds of thoroughbred cattle, horses, sheep, and swine, 
barns, sheds, teams, and a good outfit of farm tools and machinery. There 
is also a good library of over a thousand volumes of standard and techni- 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 199 

cal works, a well equipped carpenter and machine shop and a culinary 
laboratory. 

There are three college buildings, as shown in the cuts, on pages 197-98, 
consisting of a college hall, ladies' dormitory and gentlemen's dormitory. 

The institution receives young people of either sex, fifteen years of age 
and of good moral character, who have a competent knowledge of the com- 
mon English branches and elementary algebra. A preparatory course is 
provided, for the purpose of fitting students for the college classes. 

By an act of Congress approved March 2, 1887, accepted by the Terri- 
torial Legislature March 11, 1887, an " Agricultural Experiment Station," 
has been established under the direction of this college, and an annual 
appropriation of $15,000 is made by the General Government to defray 
the necessary expenses of conducting the same. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA, GRAND FORKS, GRAND FORKS COUNTY. 

Faculty — President, Homer B. Sprague, M. A., Ph. D., professor of 
rhetoric and English literature; Henry Montgomery, M. A., B. Sc, Ph. 
B., professor of the natural sciences; Webster Merrifield, B. A., pro- 
fessor of the Greek and Latin languages and literatures, and secretary 
of the faculty; H. B. Woodworth, B. A., professor of mathematics, physics, 
and astronomy, and principal of the normal department; John Macnie, 
M. A., professor of English, French and German; Miss Jennie Allen, 
B. A., matron and instructor in English and Latin; Miss Cora E. Smith, 
instructor in voice culture, and assistant in English branches. 
Total cost of buildings, apparatus, permanent improvements, etc..$88,241 .80 
Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-8 44,000.00 

A cut of the university building is shown on page 200. 

This building is 51x150 feet in its main dimensions, is four stories in 
height, including basement, and is furnished throughout with all the mod- 
ern appliances, including steam heating apparatus, water pipes, etc. The 
foundations of an astronomical observatory have been laid, adjoining the 
main building, and the superstructure will be completed at an early day. 

Section nine, of the charter of the university, reads as follows: 

"The object of the university of north Dakota shall be to provide the 
means of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the various branches of 
learning connected with scientific, industrial and professional pursuits, in 
the instruction and training of persons in the theory and art of teaching, 
and also instruction in the fundamental laws of the United States, and of 
this Territory, in what regards the rights and duties of citizens, and to 
this end it shall consist of the following colleges or departments, to- wit: 

" First. The college, or department, of arts 

" Second. The college, or department, of letters. 

11 Third. The normal college, or department. 

" Fourth. Such professional, or other colleges, or departments, as now 
are, or may, from time to time, be added thereto or connected therewith." 

Under the provisions of this act, three courses have thus far been 



200 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 




RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 201 

framed, known as the course in arts, the course in science, and the normal 
course. 

The degree of Bachelor of Arts is conferred by the board o!" regents on 
those persons who have completed the course in arts, and have passed the 
examination at its close. 

The degree of Bachelor of Science is conferred on those who have satis- 
factorily completed the course in science. 

In the normal department, third class, second class and first class certifi- 
cates, ar,e given to those students who have passed a satisfactory examina- 
tion in the work of the first year, second year, and third year, respect- 
ively. 

No student who has resided in the Territory for one year next preced- 
ing the date of his or her admission, is required to pay for tuition in any 
department in the university yet established. A nominal fee, to cover 
incidental expenses, consisting of five dollars for all students who reside 
in the Territory, and ten dollars for all others, is required to be paid at 
the beginning of each year. 

The natural history, anatomical, mineralogical and geological collec- 
tions consist of about 2,500 specimens. Seventeen glass cases, each eight 
and one-half feet high by four and one-half feet wide, are already filled with 
specimens, which are in a good state of preservation, and there is more 
material on hand not yet arranged in cases. The collection of skulls and 
skeletons, representing the different orders of the mammalia, birds, rep- 
tiles, amphibians and fishes, is especially good. A very large and choice 
collection of Black Hills minerals has been placed in the museum during 
the past year. The typical fossils of the various formations of the Silurian 
and Devonian ages are well represented; and there is an unusually fine 
collection of the birds of Dakota, mounted and classified. There are like- 
wise many anatomical models and other preparations for illustrating the 
lectures in the several departments of natural science. 

The museum is to receive large and useful additions during the present 
year. 

The chemical laboratory is supplied with apparatus necessary for per- 
forming the ordinary experiments and tests in chemistry and mineralogy . 

For the practical study of physiology, animal and vegetable histology, 
and general microscopy, the regents have provided the university with 
two first-class microscopes, whose magnifying powers range from ninety 
to 650 diameters, and a large and useful set of staining re-agents, section- 
cutters, glass slides and covers, and other accessories required for prepar- 
ing and mounting microscopic specimens. 

It is intended to expend, during the present year, some $2,000 in im- 
proving the laboratory and apparatus. 

The library, at present, numbers nearly 1,000 volumes, embracing in ad- 
dition to the leading encyclopedias, dictionaries, and atlases, a good col- 
lection of standard works in science, metaphysics, history, etc. This year 



202 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

the sum of $2,000 will be expended in purchasing new books to enlarge 
the library. 

A dormitory building of solid brick, 55x103 feet in dimensions, with ac- 
commodations for about one hundred students, is in process of erection 
on the university grounds. This building will cost, when completed, 
about twenty thousand dollars. 

During the past year seventy-five students were enrolled, of which 
number twenty- six worked at practical and general chemistry in the uni- 
versity laboratory; fourteen worked at practical zoology, and two at min- 
eralogy. There were fifteen students in the normal department* prepar- 
ing for the work of teaching. Thirty of the teachers, last year, of public 
schools of north Dakota received their instruction, in this institution. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF DAKOTA, VERMILLION, CLAY COUNTY. 

Faculty — President, Edward Olson, M. A., Ph. D., professor of psychol- 
ogy and ethics; Jonathan Rowley, M. A., professor of the Latin language 
and literature; William A. Scott, B. A., professor of history and English 
literature; Lewis E. Akeley, B. A., professor of the natural sciences; 
Lorrain S. Hulburt, B. A., professor of mathematics and principal of the 
preparatory department; Mary E. Allen, B. A., lady principal and asso- 
ciate professor of ancient languages; Garry E. Culver, principal of the 
normal department. 

Total cost of buildings, apparatus, permanent improvements, etc $88,500 

Appropriated fcr maintenance, 1887-8 $36,200 

Cuts of the university, two of the finest public buildings in the Terri- 
tory, are shown on page 203. 

The university of Dakota was located at Vermillion by the Territorial 
Legislature in 1862, and subsequent Legislatures petitioned Congress for 
public lands as an endowment. In 1881 seventy-two sections were granted 
to Dakota, selected and withdrawn from sale as directed and approved by 
the Secretary of the Interior, — " for the use and support of a university in 
the Territory when it should be admitted as a State in the Union." 

The main building, of the famous Sioux Falls stone, is 104x72 feet, three 
stories in height. It has two wings, each 48x62, of the same material, and 
corresponding in style, making the whole a substantial and imposing 
structure. It is finished in hard woods; the chapel and recitation rooms 
are large, well lighted and ventilated, and admirably adapted for the uses 
intended. 

There is, in addition, a commodious brick dormitory building; and a 
second dormitory, of the same material as the main structure and of great 
architectural beauty, is approaching completion. The buildings are heated 
throughout by steam, and have every modern convenience. 

The university possesses a good working library of several thousand 
well-selected volumes, to which additions are constantly being made. 

There are two reading rooms, in which are found the leading newspa- 
pers and periodicals of this country and Europe. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



205 








4it 



^:v^^^ r>, ^r^^Sl^' tV<*.-£w 



MAIN BUILDING AND LADIES' DORMITORY, UNIVERSITY OF DAKOTA, 
VERMILLION. 



204 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

A liberal appropriation has been made for the improvement of the 
grounds; and a system of water-works and drainage, now in process of 
construction, will secure perfect sanitary conditions. 

The physical and chemical laboratories are provided with all essential 
apparatus to afford facilities for systematic instruction and practical work. 

A meteorological station, in connection with the United States signal 
service, is located at the university. 

A collection of valuable minerals and fossils forms the nucleus of inin- 
eralogical and geological cabinets; and the zoological cabinet contains 
already a good collection of birds, beetles, and other insects. Large addi- 
tions to these collections are expected to be made during the coming year. 

The university, as at present organized, embraces five departments of 
instruction— the collegiate, the preparatory, the normal, the musical, and 
the commercial. 

The university is open to young men and young women on equal terms. 

Applicants for admission to the preparatory and normal departments 
must give evidence of possessing sufficient maturity and sufficient famili- 
arity with the common school branches to be able to pursue, with reason- 
able success, the studies prescribed. 

Satisfactory evidence of good, moral character, will be required of all 
candidates for admission to the university; and students coming from 
other institutions must bring proper credentials with them. 

Candidates for admission to the freshman class, who have certificates of 
graduation from the preparatory department of the university, or from 
any high school or academy whose course of study shall be approved by 
the faculty of the university, will be received without examination. All 
others will be required to pass a satisfactory examination. 

Graduates from the collegiate department, who have completed the 
prescribed classical course, are admitted to the degree of Bachelor of 
Arts; those who have completed the prescribed literary course, are ad- 
mitted to the degree of Bachelor of Letters; and those who have com- 
pleted the prescribed scientific course, are admitted to the degree of 
Bachelor of Science. 

Graduates from the other departments of the university receive 'ap- 
propriate diplomas, certifying to the studies pursued by them, and their 
proficiency in the same. 

The institution enrolled, during the past year, 193 pupils in all of its de- 
partments, and expects to graduate its first class in June of 1888. 

THE STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, MADISON, LAKE COUNTY. 

Faculty — President, William F. Gorrie, A. M., professor of psychology, 
didactics, history, English literature, drawing, reading; Emma F. Purring- 
ton, A. B., preceptress and teacher of Latin, botany, rhetoric, algebra, 
arithmetic; F. G. Young, A. B., professor of mathematics, natural 
sciences, and languages; Hattie Whalen, teacher of geography, 
physical geography, grammar, composition, orthography; D. W. 



RESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 205 

Sprague, principal of commercial department; Mrs. L. Lewis, teacher of 
instrumental music; George F. Tuttle, principal of intermediate model de- 
partment; Miss Ida Clark, principal of model school. In addition to the 
work of the regular teachers, instruction will be given by lectures during 
the year as follows: A. E. Clough, M. D., lectures in physiology; E. L. 
Clark, M. D., lectures in anatomy; J. M. Duff, M. D., lectures in hygiene. 
Total cost of present buildings, including apparatus, permanent im- 
provements, etc 135,800 

Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-88 25,000 

The original normal school building, upon which the Territory had ex- 
pended upward of $20,000, was destroyed by fire February 4, 1886, after 
having been occupied but eight weeks. 

The president writes that, "this calamity seemed at first more than 
could be borne, but before the next morning, places for accommodating 
the school had been prepared, and not a single exercise was lost. The 
spirit of loyalty which was here manifested, both by the citizens of Madi- 
son and the students, and which has in no degree waned, has ever been 
the source of lightening many of the burdens through these trying times. 
Four days after the fire, the citizens of Madison met in mass meeting to- 
devise means to rebuild the normal; and it was then decided that the 
city should, if possible, issue bonds to the amount of $25,000." The city 
issued the bonds, and out of the fund thus created, erected a beautiful 
school structure, (a cut of which is shown on page 200 ) with solid walls 
of native jasper, and trimmings of Milwaukee pressed brick and LaCrosse 
white, cut stone. 

The building is 76x84 feet, four stories high, including basement, which 
is built so high above the foundation as to make the rooms high, light, and 
airy. There are six rooms on each floor besides the cloak-rooms and halls, 
the same general plan of rooms being carried up through the different 
floors, as the partitions are of solid brick, excepting those on the two up- 
per floors. These are designed for recitation rooms, except those used as 
library, reading-room, president's office and exhibit room and have a 
seating capacity of from 20 to. 186. These rooms are supplied with 
black-board surface of genuine slate, covering all available space. The 
seats are automatic and there are 500 in all. 

In the arrangement of the seats, particular care was used in giv- 
ing the student light coming over the shoulder. In no case does 
the student sit facing the light; besides, over each window colored 
glass transoms diffuse a mellow light, which, with the delicately tinted 
walls give an agreeable tinge that will insure the student a continuance 
«f good eye-sight. The ventilation is perfect, each room being supplied with 
a flue for the pure air to come in and the foul air to pass off. The sj'stem 
of heating is the best of the kind. The rooms and halls are finished 
thoughout in hard Georgia pine and oak; the grain of the natural wood 
being brought out by the finish. The stairways, especially, are particu- 



206 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 




STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, MADISON. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 207 

larly fine and massive, giving character to the whole building. The dor- 
mitory, a building built to supply the pressing demands of the school, is 
a four-story building, including basement, containing the kitchen, dining 
room, laundry j etc. On the first floor are rooms for the steward and family y 
parlors, toilet rooms, bath rooms and students' rooms. On the second 
floor are students' rooms, each consisting of study room and bed-room 
and furnished with bedstead, mattress and springs, chairs, curtains, etc. 
The dormitory is heated with the same system of steam heating as the 
normal building. Expenses of students are brought down to the lowest 
possible figures, board at the dormitory being from $2.25 to $2.50 per 
week. This includes everything but lights and washing. Text books are 
furnished to the students for the fee of twenty-five cent per term. 

The Territory has since refunded to 'he city of Madison the amount, 
had expended. The president in liis annu 1 report says: 

" On making out our report of two years ago, we numbered thirty-two 
pupils and two nrofessors; now we enroll 124 students (besides the model 
school,) who are instructed by a corps of eight professors. 

"The fact that our students come from thirteen different counties in the 
Territory, and six students from outside, shows the extent to which the 
usefulness of this school has reached. 

"The course of study has been revised and now consists of four courses, 
namely: elementary, requiring three years to complete; advanced, which 
runs with the elementary, and requires four years, as it takes Latin, trig- 
onometry, and surveying, in addition; commercial, of one year; and pro- 
fessional, for those who, having taken courses in other institutions, wish 
to fit themselves for teaching. 

"The number of students entering the normal during the year ending 
June 30, 1885, was forty-eight; whole number of different pupils regis- 
tered during the year was sixty -live. 

"The number entering during 1 he year ending June 30, 1886, was ninety- 
one; number of different pupils registered was 141; whole number en- 
rolled during the fall term, 134. 

"Two students graduated in June, 188o, and four in 1880, all but one of 
whom are now teaching in Dakota. Besides these, Territorial certificates, 
have been issued to twenty-nine students, who are now teaching. In the 
present attendance there are thirty-live who have taught and sixty-six 
who intend to teach. 

" In granting the certificates, especial rare has been exercised, that none 
should be sent out to teach who has not maintained a high scholarship^ 
tested by thorough written reviews fortnightly; for we realize that these 
teachers are not only living advertisements of our work, hut their work 
will soon begin to be marked on the students whom they may prepare 
for the normal. With these facts ever before us, we do not intend to send 
out any superficial scholars or poorly equipped teachers." 



208 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

THE NORMAL SCHOOL, SPEARFISH, LAWRENCE COUNTY. 

Faculty — Principal, Fayette L. Cook; assistants, Margaret A. Thompson, 
Katharine J. Bingham, Anna C. Fockens; model school, E. F. Snell, Ber- 
tha Youmans; librarian, Cora Grubbs. 

Total cost of buildings, apparatus, permanent improvements, etc.... $30,000 
Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-88 21,400 

The building, so far as completed, (a cut of which is shown on page 
209,) has a delightful location in the pretty village of Spearfish — a city sit- 
uated on the border of the Hills; and surrounded by the beautiful scenery 
of that region. 

The amount appropriated by the last session of the Legislature ($25,000,) 
to be expended in the enlargement of the school, will enable the manage- 
ment to remedy the embarrassment this institution has labored under for 
lack of room, suitable buildings, etc. 

The new building as planned, is 75x92 feet. The style of architec- 
ture is full Roman, massive, picturesque. The base of the structure will 
be of stone, linework bond, having natural quarry appearance; main 
walls of brick, with numerous faces; window and door sills, and caps, of 
cut stone, roof half-mansard, covered with metallic tiles, the upper part 
seamed tin. From the middle of the main front a symmetrical tower rises 
to a height of 120 feet, balanced on each side by dormer window-facings in 
the roof, galvanized iron cornices and roof ornaments adding to the beauty 
of the really handsome building. The ground plan shows five class and 
recitation rooms, cloak rooms, and commodious corridors on the first 
floor; assembly room, library, office, and three recitation rooms, on the 
second floor; furnace, ventilation and fuel rooms, etc., in the basement. 

The following statistics of attendance, etc., for the term ending Decem- 
ber 22, 1886, are given: 

Whole number of students enrolled 84 

dumber of males 36 

^Number of females 48 

Average daily attendance 76 

Per cent, of attendance 90 

Average age of students, years 18 

dumber fitting for teaching 63 

It has been the purpose to make the school truly professional in char- 
acter. Its plans and methods all aim at the preparation of the teachers 
to teach in the common schools of the Territory. Though the school is so 
new, classes are not more than six months behind the corresponding 
classes in the elementary course of the normal schools in Minnesota and 
"Wisconsin. Much attention is given to the theor)^ and practice of teach- 
ing. The management has organized, in connection with the Spearfish 
public school, one of the best conducted primary schools in the United 
States. In this school the members of the graduating class teach daily un- 
til the close of the year, in June. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



20,) 




210 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

THE SCHOOL OF MINES, RAPID CITY, PENNINGTON COUNTY. 

Faculty — Franklin R. Carpenter, A. M. C. E., dean, professor of geology 
and mining engineering; H. 0. Hofman, E. M., professor of assaying and 
metallurgy; L. L. Conant, A. M., professor of languages and mathematics; 
Hon. Daniel McLaughlin, professor of mining law; the chair of professor 
of chemistry and physics, to be supplied. 

Total cost of buildings, apparatus, permanent improvements etc $35,820 

Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-88 20,000 

The school, a commodious and substantial, three-story, brick structure 
53x37 feet, with heavy stone foundation and brick partition walls, (a cut 
of which is shown on page 2 LI), is located on an eligible site of ten acres 
(donated by tne citizens of Rapid,) in the eastern portion of the city, and 
overlooks the Rapid valley and Rapid river. 

Prof. Frank R. Carpenter, dean of the school, says: 

" The Black Hills offer special and peculiar advantages for such an in- 
stitution. We have, close at hand, a greater variety of mines than any 
other school of mines in existence, and have opportunities to practically 
and efficiently study the science of geology and kindred branches, such 
as are seldom found at one point. From Rapid City there are, within 
easy reach, nearly all the older geological formations, a feature not met 
with in any other locality within hundreds of miles. 

" By going from Rapid City to Harney Peak, a distance of but twenty- 
five miles, one passes over the upturned edges of nearly all known rocks 
from the Cretaceous age to the granite. 

"Within a distance of fifty miles are mines of tin, copper, iron, anti- 
mony, silver-lead, nickel, gold, and silver. To the north and west are 
coal measures, oil fields, and salt springs, thus giving us in small space 
nearly all of the more valuable mineral deposits useful to man. It can, 
therefore, be truthfully said that in the Black Hills region is a greater 
variety of rocks and useful minerals, than is elsewhere known to exist in 
any area of like size. 

"The student is here enabled to familiarize himself with their occurrence 
in place, and the last Legislature did well to recognize these advantages by 
the appropriation of a sum of money to aid the establishment of a school 
of mines at so favored a point." 

The laboratory building is two stories in height, and is 138x60 feet in 
size. It is not attached to the college building proper, but stands 200 
feet distant from it. The power is furnished by a Corliss engine of forty- 
horse power. The stamps, crushers, rolls, jigs, vanners, pans, tanks, 
furnaces, etc., are all of actual working size, and furnished by well-known 
manufacturers of mining machinery. ■ 

Having the necessary machinery, the nearness to the mines makes the 
getting of ores a matter of small moment. It is proposed to give the student, 
from time to time, after he has had the necessary theoretical study, quan- 
tities of ore which he will sample, make assays and tests of, decide the 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



•\?: 



. 



kmsSmiefo..: 



A.KOTA SCHOOL OF MINES, RAPID CITY 



proper method of working, and after deciding, actually treat the ore. He 
will be assisted by his class in his work, and in turn assist the other mem- 
bers. He will have the benefit of criticism and experience, and will, of 
necessity, acquire independent judgment, and a real knowledge of the 
subject. 

The chemical laboratory is furnished with everything necessary to the 
study of chemistry, including qualitative and quantitative analysis, assay- 
ing, etc. The geological and mineralogical cabinet is large and well furn- 
ished. New specimens are constantly being added for the purpose of 
st.idy and illustration. 

The school library contains many of the principal works that have been 
published upon chemistry, mining, geology, metallurgy, etc, and will be 
added to, from time to time, as important works appear. 

Among the sciences taught, the institution requires special attention to 
be given to the study of mineralogy, geology, chemistry, engineering, as- 
saying, and the practical treatment of ores. Courses of lectures are deliv- 
ered on these and allied subjects, including mining law. 



212 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 




METALLURGICAL LABORATORY, SCHOOL OF MINES. RAPID CITY 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 213 

During the present summer vacation, the dean of the school, Prof. 
Frank R. Carpenter, has been at work, under the general direction of the 
board of trustees, making a complete and thorough geological survey of the 
mining districts known as Ruby Camp, Bald mountain, Carbonate, Galena, 
and the " Unknown." 

Save the report of Professor Blake upon tin, nothing worthy of naming 
has been published upon the above camps, and it is believed these sum- 
mer investigations by the faculty will, in the end, prove not less valuable 
to the Territory than the education of its youth. In the Hills, are vast 
undeveloped resources, such as coal, oil, clays, gypsum, iron and nickel, 
as well as gold, silver, and tin, all of which will become better known by 
the scientific examinations and tests of the school. 

THE DAKOTA SCHOOL FOR DEAF MUTES, SIOUX FALLS, MINNEHAHA COUNTY. 

Officers of the school for deaf mutes: 

James Simpson, superintendent; Miss Ida E. Wright, matron; Howard 
McP. Hufsteater, Miss M. F. Walker, Miss Emma Von Behren, and Mrs. 
A. L. Simpson, teachers; W. E. Dobson, boys' supervisor. 

Total cost of buildings, permanent improvements, etc $53,512 

Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-8 33,250 

The buildings, shown on page 2i4, consist of a boys' dormitory, with 
ample room for seventy pupils, built of Sioux Falls granite, trimmed with 
red pipestone, giving it a pleasing exterior appearance, and a main struc- 
ture, two stories in height, with an eight foot basement. Water, gas, 
sewer pipes and steam-heating apparatus are placed in the buildings 
throughout, and great care has been taken in the provision for ventilating 
and lighting every room. 

There "have been added, the present year, a shop wherein the boys can 
avail themselves of the opportunity of learning a useful trade; a laundry 
building, fitted with laundry machinery, drying rooms, etc., and a new 
barn, at a cost of $2,500. 

Following is an extract from the last annual report of the board of trus- 
tees to the Governor of the Territory: 

" Our visits to the class rooms and the various apartments of the school 
indicated to us that all were in a commendable state. The students were 
making excellent progress in their studies under the able instruction of 
the superintendent, Prof. James Simpson, and his assistants. We have 
always found the building clean, neat and tidy, and the children clean, 
bright and evidently happy, showing care and watchfulness on the part of 
the matron, Miss Ida Wright. 

"The discipline, scholarship and general educational advantages of the 
school are highly gratifying, not only to the board, but io the friends and 
patrons of the schcol. It is the desire of the board that the school con- 
tinue in its career of prosperity. The general health of the school during 
the time covered by this report has been good. The school has been en- 
tirely free from contagious diseases, though there have been times when 



214 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 










% is 




RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 215 

typhoid fever and diptheria prevailed in the cit3^ and surrounding neigh- 
borhood. 

"The average number of pupils in attendance during the term of 1885-6 
was thirty-one, of which twenty-four were males and seven females. The 
number in attendance at this writing is thirty-six, of which twenty-six 
are males and ten females." 

Denominational colleges, universities, or academies are located at Yank- 
ton, Mitchell, Pierre, Sioux Falls, Groton, Scotland, Redfield, Jamestown, 
Tower City, Canton, Arvilla, and Fargo, as follows: 

THE YANKTON COLLEGE, YANKTON, YANKTON COUNTY, (CONGREGATIONAL.) 

Faculty — President, Rev. Joseph Ward, D. D., professor of mental 
and moral philosophy; A. F. Bartlett, A. M., professor of physics and 
mathematics, and principal of the preparatory and normal departments; 
Rev. John T. Shaw, A. M., professor of Latin and instructor in elocution; 
Mr. Edward M. Young, director of the musical department; Mrs. E. M. 
Young, assistant instructor in music; TV. J. McMurtry, A. M., professor of 
Greek; H. H. Swain, A. M., instructor in history and English literature; 
Mrs. Frances D. Wilder, preceptress and teacher of German; Miss Louise 
Hannum, assistant in normal department and teacher of French ; General 
W. H. H. Beadle, lecturer on history and civil government; Rev. D. B. 
Nichols, A. M.j librarian and curator of cabinets; Mrs. A. M. Dawson, 
matron. 

This college, the first institution for higher education in Dakota, was 
established by the congregational churches of Dakota, to furnish the 
means of a christian education to young men and women. 

The general association took the first step by appointing a college com- 
mittee at its ninth session, held at Canton, May 20, 1875. This committee 
was continued from year to year, until at a special meeting, held also at 
Canton, May 25, 1881, the association ratified the recommendation of the 
committee and located the college at Yankton. 

The college was incorporated August 30, 1881. The first session for in- 
struction was held in the chapel of the congregational church, with five 
pupils present, October 4, 1882. The corner stone of the present building 
was laid June 15, 1882, and the building was ready for use at the opening 
of the second school year, September 5, 1883. 

The steady growth in the number of pupils, until at the end of the 
fourth year, there are over 150 in regular attendance, shows that the associa- 
tion was justified in establishing the college. 

The trustees have joined with the faculty in a determination to found 
an institution of the highest grade. To this end the standard has been 
placed high, and will be advanced as often as may be found necessary to 
carry out the fixed policy to establish an institution that shall do the best 
work. 

The college building is 40x60 feet, three stories high, with a tower one 
story higher. 



216 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA: 

This furnishes a chapel seating 160, four large recitation rooms, a chemi- 
cal laboratory, a society room, besides dressing rooms, closets, and storage 
rooms. 

The material used is red granite from Sioux Falls, trimmed with white 
stone from Iowa. 

The institution graduated its first class in June of the present year. The 
musical department is in the hands of Prof, and Mrs. E. M. Young, both 
graduates of the New England conservatory of music, at Boston. The 
library already numbers 3,000 volumes of well selected books, and is con- 
stantly increasing. The college has a valuable geological and mineralogi- 
cal cabinet, in the care of a competent curator. 

.DAKOTA UNIVERSITY, MITCHELL, DAVISON COUNTY, (METHODIST.) 

Faculty — President, Rev. Wm. Brush, D. D.; vice president, Rev. P. A. 
Reno, A. M., professor of mental and moral philosophy and normal 
instructor; Fred C. Eastman, A. M., professor of Greek and Latin; T. 
H. Duncan, professor of natural science and mathematics; Eleazar S. 
Mashbir, A. M., professor of German; J. A. Wakefield, M. S., principal 
of commercial department and lecturer on commercial law and political 
economy; Miss Fannie B. Chapman, instructor in stenography and type- 
writing; William Richardson, professor of vocal music; Edith Rogers, in- 
strumental music; Hattie J. Taylor, elocutionist; Mrs. T. H. Walker, 
drawing, painting, and fine art; Mrs. P. A. Reno, preceptress; Rev. T. H. 
Walker, steward. 

This institution is most pleasantly situated on an eminence in the 
suburbs of Mitchell, and commands a magnificent view in all directions. 
The grounds have an area of 320 acres. The locality is exceptionally 
healthful. 

The main building is a beautiful and commodious structure of four 
stories, with 115 feet front, of Venetian architecture, built of solid jasper 
granite, trimmed with concrete and sandstone. 

Students wishing to board in the building, can be supplied with finely 
furnished, well ventillated rooms, ten and twelve feet in height, heated 
by steam, at low rates. 

Of the different departments, the preparatory is designed to lay a broad 
and solid foundation for the successful pursuit of the higher branches in 
the collegiate course, at the same time affording a thorough drill in the 
common branches to those studying mainly with reference to teaching in 
the common schools. 

In the collegiate department, the course of instruction is complete and 
thorough, and is substantially the same as that of the best colleges and 
universities of this country. Two courses have been laid out — the classi- 
cal and scientific, leading respectively to the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
and Bachelor of Science. The former is the regular college course, in- 
cluding four, or five years of Greek and five of Latin. 

The latter is a less complete course, designed for those whose time ia 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 217 

more limited, and gives attention more particularly to the modern lan- 
guages and science. 

The business department is designed to give those desiring it, a thorough 
and practical business education, including a complete course in book- 
keeping, commercial law, phonography, telegraphy, penmanship, etc. 

PIERRE UNIVERSITY, PIERRE, HUGHES COUNTY, ( PRESBYTERIAN.) 

Faculty — President, Rev. Wm. M. Blackburn, D. D., professor of 
mental, moral, and political sciences; George G. Hitchcock, A. B., pro- 
fessor of languages; (the chairs of mathematics and natural sciences are 
now vacant;) Miss Mary R. Campbell, B. S., assistant teacher of languages 
and mathematics; Miss Ella M. DeLano, Miss Callie Case, Geo. B. Safford, 
and E. T. Jaynes, assistant teachers; Miss Laura B.Templeton, teacher of 
music; Mrs. Abbie W. Hitchcock, teacher of drawing and vocal music. 

The academic, normal, collegiate and music departments of this institu- 
tion constitute the present college of the intended university. It is 
owned and controlled by the presbyterian synod of [southern] Dakota, 
which appoints its board of eleven trustees. It is not sectarian in educa- 
tion, while it is conducted on the basis of true science and evangelical 
Christianity. 

All well recommended and qualified applicants of both sexes, whatever 
their religious views or denominations, who agree to conform to such re- 
quirements as are common to kindred institutions are admitted. 

The college is built on one of the most commanding sites in the Mis- 
souri valley. Its property is valued at $40,000, of which three-fourths is 
in two substantial buildings well adapted to their purposes. 

The university was considerately located at Pierre with a view to the 
future population, demands and conveniences of south Dakota. Good 
health, suitable climate and attractive scenery, are among the advantages 
of the location. 

The college had in its first year, 1883-4, thirty-six students. In its 
fourth year it had twice that number, two-thirds of whom came over dis- 
tances varying from five to 250 miles. It offers instruction at rates of eight 
to twelve dollars a term — three terms in a year; provisions for aiding stu- 
dents who are dependent on self help; and board at very moderate rates 
in the college club, or in private families. All the students are under 
the personal supervision of the faculty. This institution is entitled to the 
honor of conferring a diploma on the first college graduate in Dakota. 

SIOUX FALLS UNIVERSITY, SIOUX FALLS, MINNEHAHA COUNTY, (BAPTIST.) 

Faculty— President, Rev. E. B. Meredith, A. M., B. D., professor of 
mental and moral science and mathematics; F. J. Walsh, A. B., professor 
of Greek and Latin languages; A. H. Tufts, M. D., professor of anatomy, 
physiology, hygiene, and zoology; Miss Carrie E. Lawrence, preceptress, 
and teacher of history and English literature; Mrs. F. J. Walsh, principal 
of the model school and teacher of the primary branches; O. W. Moore, 
teacher of vocal and instrumental music; Mrs. D. P. Ward, teacher of 
drawing and painting. 



218 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

The Sioux Falls university is located at Sioux Falls, a leading city of 
southern Dakota. The climate is healthful, and the scenery varied and 
inviting. Everything is calculated to inspire the student to enterprising 
work. 

For lectures and other means of outside instruction, all of which are 
valuable, the place presents such advantages as few Western cities can 
offer. 

The rooms in the school building are heated by steam, and in the girls' 
building by stoves. The expense to each student is about thirty-five cents 
per week, during the time when heat is required. 

A four-story building, of Sioux Falls jasper, has been erected on a beauti- 
ful eminence overlooking the city, and within a mile of the business 
center. It contains four recitation rooms, chapel, large kitchen and dining- 
hall, living rooms for two or three teachers, and twenty-four dormitory 
rooms. The entire building is heated by steam and well ventilated. 

A large house, just across the street from the university, has been 
rented for the accommodation of the girls. The preceptress will live in 
this, and pains will be taken to make it a comfortable and quiet home for 
them. 

This gives an opportunity of keeping the boys and girls entirely sepa- 
rate, except at meals and recitations. 

Courses in science, the classics, philosophy, and music are provided. 
Normal and preparatory courses are also taught. 

GROTON COLLEGE, GROTON, BROWN COUNTY, (PRESBYTERIAN.) 

Faculty — President, Rev. Jas. A. Marshall, M. A., professor of 
mental science, logic, history, and Biblical instruction; R. L. Slagle, A. B., 
professor of mathematics and natural science; Jno. I. Cleland, A. B., 
professor of languages; Mrs. Miller, instructor in vocal and instrumental 
music. 

Groton college was established at Groton, Dakota, in the fall of 1885, by 
the presbytery of Aberdeen. The wisdom of this step was shown by the 
fact that 101 students were enrolled during the first year. This auspicious 
opening was under the presidency of Rev. J. M. Linn. In 1886, Rev. 
James A. Marshall, M. A., was elected president, and entered on his duties 
at the beginning of the present college year. His associates in the faculty 
are well qualified for their duties, and are doing effective work in their 
respective departments. 

The property of the institution consists of a campus of forty acres within 
the corporate limits of Groton, on which were erected, previous to the 
autumn of 1886, a chapel and dormitory. This property was secured by 
gift from the citizens of Groton and the friends of education in the pres- 
bytery of Aberdeen. 

It is the purpose of the trustees and faculty to afford students all the 
facilities within their power, and to do as good work in their training as 
can be done elsewhere. They see the need of higher education in this 
vast region and will spare no pains to meet this necessity. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 219 

The following courses are taught: 

A classical course corresponding to that of the best Eastern colleges, and 
designed to lay a good foundation for broad and liberal culture on the 
long-tried and time-honored system. 

A scientific course intended for those who prefer to give more study of 
the sciences and modern languages. 

A normal course arranged to meet the wants of teachers. The elemen- 
tary course fits them for teaching all the branches of a common English 
education. The complete course will fit them for teaching those higher 
branches which come within the sphere of the graded and normal 
schools. 

A commercial course formed after the best models of the business col- 
leges in the large cities, and designed to train students in the theory and 
practice of modern business. 

A musical course so graded as to make the advance easy and pleasant, 
and to give such a variety of drill and exercises as to make it complete. 

ALL SAINTS SCHOOL, SIOUX FALLS, MINNEHAHA COUNTY, (EPISCOPALIAN) . 

Faculty — President, Rt. Rev. W. H. Hare, D. D., lecturer on evi- 
dences and christian ethics; Miss Helen S. Peabody, principal and teach- 
er of Latin; Rev. F. Gardiner, Jr,, lecturer in science; Miss Mary O. Be- 
ment, higher English ; Miss Margery Cryer, mathematics and plrysics; 
Miss Mary Share, primary principal and teacher of history; Mrs. E. B. 
Cross, M. D., physiology and hygiene; Miss Julia B. White, instrumental 
music; Miss Kathleen Gillmore, vocal culture and tone production; Miss 
Clara Willatowski, German. 

A boarding and day school for young ladies and children, under the im- 
mediate supervision of the Rt. Rev. AV. H. Hare, D. D., missionary bishop 
of south Dakota. 

The location of the school building is exceptionally fine, on the 
outskirts of Sioux Falls, a town beautifully situated at the falls of the 
Sioux river, which, within the limits of the city, plunges ninety feet over 
rocky rapids and cascades. The building stands on an elevated and com- 
manding site, looking down Main street. It is quite in the country, yet 
within ten minutes walk from the center of the city. 

The building, constructed in the most substantial manner of the cele- 
brated Sioux Falls jasper, is one of the most beautiful in the Northwest. 
It is heated by steam, lighted by gas, and supplied with wholesome, deli- 
cious water from a well on the grounds of the school. Bath-rooms are 
conveniently placed throughout the building, and especial attention has 
been paid to securing perfect ventilation, drainage, and safety from fire. 

The interior, with its chapel, wide halls, warm, well-lighted parlor, din- 
ing-room and school-rooms, is carefully finished and arranged with an es- 
pecial view to making this an attractive, cheery home. 

Every effort is put forth to make this a home-school of high grade, 
where tne pupils will be surrounded with elevating influences and wuse 



220 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA . 

discipline, and the results sought are thorough mental training, physical 
development, refinement of feeling and manners, and sound Christian 
character. 

The courses taught include the study of the usual English branches, 
music, etc., and the standard works on history, literature, science, mathe- 
matics, and the languages. 

Special arrangements are made for young ladies who desire to pursue 
special branches, or to finish their education. 

SCOTLAND ACADEMY, SCOTLAND, BONHOMME COUNTY, ( PRESBYTERIAN.) 

Faculty — Alexander Straehan, A. M., principal, professor of ancient 
classics and mathematics; SaraS. Ferguson, A. M., assistant principal, and 
professor of natural sciences and pedagogics; Rev. B. T. Balcar, A. B., 
professor of modern languages and music; Carrie S. Marsh, teacher of 
music and history; Ida Ferguson, instructor of arithmetic and English; 
Hon. T. 0. Bogert, lecturer on commercial law. 

The academy building is a new brick structure, and was opened to re- 
ceive the first class September 20, 1886. 

The object that the founders of the academy have in view is to present 
facilities for a liberal education under christian influence. Thorough in- 
struction is guaranteed in ancient and modern languages; mathematics, 
pure and applied; physical, mental, and moral science; pedagogy, science, 
of accounts, music and German. Special attention is paid to preparation 
for college, for teaching and for business. 

The institution had upon its rolls, at the close of the first year, forty 
students pursuing a literary course and eighteen others engaged in the 
study of music. 

REDFIELD COLLEGE, REDFIELD, SPINK COUNTY, (CONGREGATIONAL.) 

Faculty — President, Rev. David Beaton, professor of mental and moral 
philosophy; Rev. J. W. Parkhill, A. M., professor of Latin and French 
and instructor in natural sciences; Mrs. Susan W. Hassell, A. M., acting 
principal of academy and instructor in English language and literature, and 
mathematics; Rev. A. Wuerrschmidt, acting professor of German; Mrs. 
Margaret. B. Dawes, A. B., lady principal and instructor in Greek and 
history; Mrs. D. F. Brown, instructor in painting and drawing; Rev. D. 
R. Tomlin, curator and librarian; music, vocal and instrumental, in charge 
of the principal of "the Dakota conservatory of music;" Prof. W. H. 
Dempster, princiual of normal department. 

This institution was established but recently and is at present occupying 
temporary quarters in the city of Redfield. The college building proper, 
which will be ready for occupancy sometime in November of this year, is 
a large, commodious structure furnished with suitable conveniences for 
heating and ventilation, and is situated on a slight elevation just south of 
the city, affording a fine view of the surrounding country. 

In the preparatory department, the courses of study consist of a classi- 
cal course of three years, a scientific course of two years, a normal course 
of four years, and a business course of two terms. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 221 

In the collegiate department proper, the courses of study will consist of 
classical, scientific and literary courses of four years each. 

The board of trustees intend furnishing the very best of instruction 
obtainable in vocal and instrumental music, and hope to make this de- 
partment of great value to the students. 

Systematic instruction will be provided in drawing and painting. 

JAMESTOWN COLLEGE, JAMESTOWN, STUTSMAN COUNTY, ( PRESBYTERIAN.) 

The presbyterian society have located their college for north Dakota at 
Jamestown, on ground donated for the purpose. A fine, new building of 
brick, 100 feet long by forty-four feet wide, three stories high, is under 
construction. The institution is presided over by Prof. N. M. Crowe, A. 
M., and five assistant professors. Full college instruction is taught, in- 
cluding the sciences, arts, and the liberal courses. The enrollment, last 
year, was forty pupils. The permanent property of the college is valued 
at $35,000. 

FARGO COLLEGE, FARGO, CASS COUNTY, (CONGREGATIONAL.) 

The course of instruction in the academy, (the preparatory department 
of the college soon to be established,) is under the charge of Prof. F. T. 
Waters, A. M. For the present school year, three courses of study are 
provided, viz.: The classical, which will give ample preparation for col- 
lege; the scientific, which will prepare the student for the higher philoso- 
phical course; and the English, which will meet the wants of those not in- 
tending to enter college, but wishing studies helpful to an entrance upon 
business life. 

Prof. E. A. Smith, a competent and thorough instructor, is at the head 
of the musical department. 

. ARVILLA ACADEMY, ARVILLA, GRAND FORKS COUNTY. 

The Arvilla academy offers to the young men and young ladies of the 
Northwest, a means of obtaining a good classical education with the least 
possible expense. Young men are prepared for the freshman and sopho- 
more classes of the best colleges. Young ladies receive instruction in all 
the branches taught in modern seminaries. The course adopted in the 
musical department is the same as that of the musical conservatory of 
Stuttgart, Germany. Rev. J. A. Brown is principal, and Miss Sadie P. 
Brown, assistant principal. Four teachers are employed, and forty pupils 
were in attendance last year. The institution owns buildings worth 
$3,500. 

TOWER UNIVERSITY, TOWER CITY, CASS COUNTY, (BAPTIST.) 

This institution, now in its second year, is under the management of 
Prof. C. F. Dame, A. B., principal, Miss U. A. Dame, assistant principal, 
and Mrs. J. W. Clapp, instructor of music. The school admits both male 
and female students. Four year courses of the usual college studies are 
taught. An excellent library of 1,700 volumes is within the reach of 
students attending the university. The college rolls, last year, contained 
the names of forty pupils. 



222 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

AUGUSTAN A COLLEGE, CANTON, LINCOLN COUNTY, (NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN.) 

Faculty — M. D. Miller, A. M., principal; L. A. Vigness, A. B., professor 
of the languages and literature; Miss Anna Wright, in charge of the pre- 
paratory department; Louis Larson, teacher of book-keeping; and Mrs. 
M. D. Miller, instructor in music. Regular courses of college and normal 
instruction are provided. The total number of pupils enrolled the last 
school year, was ninety-eight, fifty males and forty-eight females. The 
institution owns property valued at $6,000. 

The catholic church has established parochial schools, as follows: 

Academy of the Sacred Heart, Yankton; St. Joseph academy, Fargo; St. 
Mary's academy, Bismarck; one at Grand Forks, and a school for girls at 
Aberdeen, recently founded. 

Commercial and business colleges are established at Fargo, Yankton, 
and Sioux Falls. 

The last Legislature made provision for the professional training of 
teachers at public expense, in an act authorizing the Territorial board of 
education to designate ten private or sectarian schools to give normal 
training to classes of not less than ten nor more than twenty-five pupils, 
the tuition to be paid from the Territorial treasury at the rate of $1 per 
week per pupil. The Territorial board has appointed seven of the 
schools and other appointments will be made at any early day. 

The schools appointed are as follows: 

Jamestown college, Tower university, of Tower City, Groton college, 
Redfleld college, Pierre university, Mitchell university, and Scotland 
academy. 

INDIAN EDUCATION. 

For the education of the Indians of the Territory, there were main- 
tained last year, (1886,) by the Government and the different missionary 
societies, forty-eight day schools, sixteen boarding schools, and six indus- 
trial schools — a total of seventy schools — with average attendance in all of 
nearly 3,000 pupils. This shows an increase of school attendance over 
that of previous years. In 1884 the average school attendance was but 
1,293, and there were only twenty-four schools in operation. 

The average cost to the Government of the maintenance, for the average 
school attendance of Indian children, is estimated at $76 per capita, for 
the entire school population $15 per capita, and for each school in opera- 
$4,225— nearly double the cost of tuition in the public schools of Dakota. 

The Commissioner of Indian affairs in his annual report for 1886, says: 

" It is yet undetermined what kind of schools are best adapted to pre- 
pare the Indian for self-support, and that independence which will ena- 
ble him to meet and successfully encounter the shrewd competition 
which henceforth everyone will find contesting his path in the social, 
civic, and business affairs of life. Indian educators themselves, differ in 
opinion as to what kind of Indian schools are preferable, and the same 
difference exists among those of both houses of Congress who have charge 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 223 

of Indian matters. That each of the different kinds of schools or methods 
of education can lay some claims to merit, cannot be denied." * * * 

As an incentive to make the best use of the educational advantages 
offered those pupils of both sexes who attend industrial institutions, the 
Commissioner thinks it would be wise for Congress to make an appropria- 
tion from which every Indian youth who shall gradute from school and 
marry an Indian maiden who has also graduated, may be assisted in set- 
tling down upon a homestead of 160 acres, in purchasing a team, in break- 
ing and fencing land, and in building a house. If the homestead is not 
on an Indian reservation, the man should also have the privilege of citiz- 
enship, including the right of suffrage. Such a law would greatly encourage 
Indian youths and maidens in their resistance to the evil and savage in- 
fluences of their untutored friends, and would do much to keep them 
from a return to savage life. . 

The Honorable Commissioner's recommendations embody the convic- 
tions of everyone at all familiar with Indian customs and habits and the 
question of his possible civilization. 

Many of the schools maintained for the benefit of the Indians are 
managed by diligent, earnest teachers and have performed astonishing 
results in educating the minds of the young of these wild tribes; but the 
difficulty met with, under the policy at present in force is, that after the 
schools are through with the pupil, he is given back to the tribe with 
every incentive about him to resume his original state of savagery. 

The school system in vogue may be said to give the poor little heathen 
a glimpse of the Heaven of knowledge and civilization, simply to increase 
the cruelty of his banishment to a hell of sloth and degradation. 

The writer, who has lived all his life in close proximity to the Indians 
of the West, and has held pretty strong convictions as to the utter useless- 
ness of the race, remembers well his surprise and secret mortification on 
visiting, last summer, the Saint John's boarding school for Indian girls, 
near the Cheyenne river agency, Sioux Indian reservation, to find that 
he had been in gross error all along, as regards the capacity of the Indian 
mind to acquire learning and knowledge. This excellent school, under 
thej management of Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Kinney, Jr., is a model of neatness 
and^order, and each little girl when called upon displayed a knowledge, 
and demeanor completely dumbfounding to one who had so cruelly mis- 
judged them for years. 

Not far from here, on the east bank of the Missouri, at Oahe, is a sec- 
ond industrial and boarding school for Indian girls, under the supervis- 
sion of Rev. T. L. Riggs and wife, who also are noted for their earnest and 
philanthropic efforts in the cause of Indian education. Rev. Mr. Riggs 
belongs to a family who, for generations, have devoted their lives to 
missionary work. The present school building accommodates above fifty 
girls, and a companion building is contemplated with rooms for an equal 
number of boys. 



224 R ESOUECES F D A K OTA . 

The recommendation of Commissioner Atkins that "a large industrial 
and training school near the Great Sioux reservation should be estab- 
lished and the graduates of the day and reservation schools should b© 
sent there for advanced instruction," is to be carried out by the establish- 
ment of such an institution, by the General Government, to cost $100,000, 
at Pierre, Hughes county, where the citizens have generously donated 
suitable grounds for the building, and a farm of 160 acres. 

At Yankton the academy of the Sacred Heart, a fine and costly brick 
structure, is used for a school for Indian boys, and is in a flourishing and 
prosperous condition under the patronage of the catholic church. 

Hope school is located at Springfield, has three teachers and forty 
pupils and property worth $17,000. Miss F. E. Howes is the principal. 

St. Mary's school at Rosebud agency has five teachers, forty-five pupils 
and property valued at $17,000. The principal is M. A. Hays. 

St. Paul's school at the Yankton agency has four teachers, thirty-six 
pupils and property worth $20,000. J. F. Johnston is the principal. 

The three last named institutions for the education of the Indian, are 
under the management of the episcopal church. 



Pamphlets and maps descriptive of every section of the great Territory, 
explaining the Government land laws and answering questions of interest 
to those in search of a new home, are forwarded to any address on ap- 
plication to the Commissioner of Immigration, Pierre, Dakota. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 225 



PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 



THE CAPITOL, BISMARCK, BUELEIGH COUNTY. 

(Cut oij page 2.) 
The capitol was removed from Yankton in 1883, and established at Bis- 
marck by a commission, appointed at the preceding session of the Terri- 
torial Legislature, to "permanently locate the seat of Government." 
Under the terms of removal, the city of Bismarck donated the capitol 
building, costing $100,000, and grounds, covering 320 acres in all — valued at 
$100,000. The building, (see frontispiece) thus far completed, is without 
the north and south wings, as planned. It is four stories high, built of 
native pressed brick and terra cotta, trimmed with white limestone fa- 
cings, columns, and sills, and heated throughout by steam. The appear- 
ance of the architectural design is pleasing, the general effect of which is 
enhanced, to a wonderfrJ " 1 -ee, by the commanding position the building 
occupies, on an elevated plateau about a mile north of the business center 
of the city. On the second floor are the offices of the Governor, Secretary 
of the Territory, Auditor, Treasurer, and Attorney General. The third 
floor is occupied by offices of the railway commission, rooms for the vari- 
ous Legislative committees, Territorial library, and historical collections, 
and the Legislative chamber, which extends in height through the fourth 
story. The Council hall is on the fourth floor. The building when com- 
pleted will be one of the finest edifices in the Northwest. 

THE DAKOTA PENITENTIARY, SIOUX FALLS, MINNEHAHA COUNTY. 
(Cut on Page 226.) 
Directors — Philip L. Runkel, Salem; John J. Murry, Sioux Falls; 
Porter P. Peck, Sioux Falls; W. H. Corson, Sioux Falls; E. P. Beebe, 
Sioux Falls; warden, Dan. S. Glidden; physician, Dr. J. C. Morgan. 
Total cost of that part of the building and permanent improve- 
ments furnished by the Territory $101,475 05 

Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-8 70,700 00 

The building 54x70 feet, with two wings 51x77 feet, is built of Sioux Falls 
jasper on a commanding site some 165 feet above the Big Sioux river and 
about one mile north of the business center of the city. It is constructed 

(») 



226 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA, 




RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 227 

on the most approved plans for such institutions, after a careful examina- 
tion, by the first board of directors, of a number of Eastern prisons, and 
is furnished throughout with steam heating apparatus, and all modern 
appliances. The institution is supplied with a splendid independent 
water- works system, and is lighted by an Edison electric plant. 

Workshops, (where the prisoners are emploj^ed in polishing the native 
granite,) barns, etc., have been constructed on the prison grounds. 
Eighty-six prisoners were confined in this institution at the date of the 
warden's last report to the Governor, November 30, 1886. 

The General Government occupies one wing of the prison, for the con- 
finement of offenders against the laws of the United States. 

BISMARCK PENITENTIARY, BISMARCK, BURLEIGH COUNTY. 
(Cut on page 228.) 

Board of directors — J. A. McLean, Bismarck; Norman L. Shattuck, 
Fargo; John Russell, Valley City; Andrew" J. McCabe, Jamestown; Hora- 
tio C. Plumley, Fargo; Alexander McKenzie, Bismarck; warden, Dan 
Williams; physician, Wm. A. Bentley; chaplain, Rev. F. Wolfgang. 

Total cost of buildings, permanent improvements, etc $95,281 20 

Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-8 73,2G0 00 

The penitentiary is a well constructed and suitably arranged building of 
brick, iron and stone, and contains seventy-two cells, warden's office, apart- 
ments for guards, officers and guards' dining-hall, chapel, barber-shop, 
kitchen and store-room. It stands on a tract of forty-three acres, two miles 
east of the business center of Bismarck. The furnishings and appliances 
are of the plans adopted by the older states, including steel cells, water- 
works, sewers, laundry and steam-heating apparatus. The prison grounds 
have been nicely laid out, and several hundred young trees planted; 
stables, root-houses, and other outbuildings erected, mostly by prison 
labor. 

During the present summer, (1887,) the prisoners, some of them, have 
been employed in making improvements about the grounds of the capitol 
— grading, painting, fencing, planting trees— and the result has been 
a wonderful improvement in the appearances of a location naturally 
so advantageous. 

Additional cells and other betterments are now being provided. Fifty - 
-two convicts were confined in this penitentiary at the date of the war- 
den's last report, November 30, 188G. 

DAKOTA HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE, JAMESTOWN, STUTSMAN COUNTY. 

(Cut on Page 23 J) 
Board of trustees — Samuel K. McGinnis, Jamestown; Lewis Lyon, 
Jamestown; Francis E. Jones, Jamestown; Dr. Hector Galloway, Fargo; 
L. F. Minzesheimer, Bismarck; superintendent, Dr. O. W. Archibald; 
steward, W. D. Nickeus. 

Total cost of buildings, permanent improvements, etc $270,200 00 

Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-8 107,950 00 



228 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



(P?^^1 : T^— ' i'TT"-"- 




RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 229 

The buildings completed, consist of two separate wards, one for the use 
of female patients, and the other for males. Kitchen building, including 
dining room and laundry. Office building, including superintendent's 
residence. Water tow T er, barn, out buildings, etc. They are substantially 
erected of brick, on solid stone basements, in the most approved style of 
modern architecture for hospital purposes, and were designed with a 
view to securing the best sanitary conditions, with strict reference to com- 
fort and convenience in the care and treatment of the unfortunate 
patients who might be confined there. The buildings are all separate and 
distinct, so that while more room, comfort, and privacy is secured be- 
tween the sexes, any additions and extensions may easily be made, in 
the future, as desirable or needed. 

The location is all that could be desired for an institution of this kind, 
commanding a view that is unsurpassed for beauty — the varying land- 
scape spread out for miles in every direction — the James river, skirted 
with timber, winding around at the foot of the bluff, with a grand view of 
the city of Jamestown and the valley of the James for miles away. Being 
on the bluff the air is very pure, the drainage perfect. 

The buildings are lighted by Edison incandescent electric lights, sup- 
plied with water pipes throughout, steam heating apparatus, and a system 
of sewerage. It has been the constant aim of the management to have 
the furnishings perfect and convenient even to the smallest details. 

The hospital is a model of neatness and order and has the gentle quiet- 
ness of a home. 

The patients are kept as neat and clean as possible; their minds are 
diverted from moody subjects, and they are cheered and amused in every 
way, which seems to be the only proper course to pursue with insanity. 
Many, under this treatment, recover. There is very little, if any, force 
used, and there are no jail cells or iron bars to give the impression of 
confinement; kindness and cheerfulness, from the results here, seem to 
be the best remedies for minds diseased. 

Two hundred and fifty acres of the land belonging to the institution, 
have been enclosed with a substantial wire fence, for garden and pasturage. 

There were 136 inmates confined in the asylum at the time of the super- 
intendent's report, November 30, 18SG. 

In addition to the present buildings, there are now under construction, 
two detached wards to accommodate seventy-five patients each; an amuse- 
ment hall; engine and coal houses, kitchen, barn for stock, etc. All of 
the detached wards will be connected by an underground corridor, to be 
used for conveying food from the general kitchen to the patients. With 
these improvements added, the north Dakota hospital for the insane will 
be one of the most convenient and home-like institutions in any state or 
territory. 

The average of insanity in Dakota is one to every 1,878 inhabitants, or, 
less, by from 600 to 100 per cent., than the average in seventeen of the 
states. 



230 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 







RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 231 

THE DAKOTA HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE, YANKTON, YANKTON COUNTY. 
(Cut on page 282.) 
Board of trustees — F. A. Gale, Canton; W. T. Quigley, Parker; Robert 
Cox, Yankton, M. T. Wooley, Yankton; Dr. J. F. Cravens, superintend- 
ent; J. A. Potter, steward. 

Total cost of buildings, permanent improvements, etc $239,960 00 

Appropriated for maintenance. 1887-88 106,500 00 

The Yankton asylum, a commodious brick building, is located on a high 
commanding piece of ground, about two miles north of the city, sur- 
rounded by a farm of 640 acres, donated by the General Government. 
The institution is heated by steam, furnished with water pipes, and a com- 
plete system of sewerage, and all the latest appliances for the comfort and 
convenient handling of the insane. The out-buildings consist of barns, ice 
house, slaughter house, brick root-cehar, machinery store-house, coal 
sheds, etc., etc. Thirty acres, directly south of, and in front of the hospi- 
tal, have been laid out in landscape garden, with pretty curves 
and serpentine drives, neatly graded and graveled. On either side 
of these drives and walks, are double rows of forest trees, mostly elm; 
groups of evergreens are scattered through the grounds, — making in all, 
several thousand growing trees. On the east side of the farm, an orchard 
has been planted, of nearly four thousand fruit trees, including apple, 
cherry, mulberry, etc., besides a large number of small fruits and shrubs 
— all of which are growing nicely. 

The garden and farm, operated by the asylum officers, provide nearly 
all the vegetables, grain, and small fruits, necessary to supply the de- 
mands of the institution. 

The improvements contemplated, consist of two additional fire proof 
wings, three stories and basement, to accommodate seventy-five patients 
each; another engiue-house, 37x44 feet; the enlargement of the laundry, 
and the introduction of an electric light plant. It is also intended to en- 
close the entire farm of 610 acres with a substantial board fence. 

The number of patients in the hospital, Nov. 30, 1886, the date of the 
superintendent's report, was 144. 

dakota kefoem-school, plankinton, aurora county. 

(Cut; on page 231.) 

Board of trustees — Fred L. Stevens, Plankinton; F. M. Hammer, Mitch- 
ell; Wni! Kinsella, Kimball; John Albertson, Volga; M. E. Distad, 
Mitchell. 

Appropriated for construction and furnishing of buildings $30,000 

Appropriated for maintenance, 1887-8 12,000 

The appropriation for a reform-school for juvenile offenders, to be 
located at Plankinton, was passed at the last session of the Legislature, 
and the building is now under construction and will be ready for occu- 
pancy before the close of the year. 



232 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 




RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 233 

SUMMARY OF THE AMOUNT INVESTED IN TERRITORIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

The]Territory, r therefore, has an actual cash investment in the buildings 
and permanent improvements of her public institutions, as follows: 

Agricultural college, Brookings $ 100,140 00 

University of north Dakota, Grand Forks 88,241 80 

University of Dakota, Vermillion 88,500 00 

Normal school, Madison , 35,800 00 

Normal school, Spearfish 30,000 00 

School of mines, Rapid City 35,820 00 

School for deaf mutes, Sioux Falls 53,512 00 

Capitol and^grounds, Bismarck 200,000 00 

Dakota penitentiary, Sioux Falls 101,475 00 

Bismarck penitentiary, Bismarck 95,281 20 

North Dakota hospital for the insane, Jamestown 276,200 00 

Dakota hospital for the insane, Yankton 239,900 00 

Dakota reform school 30,000 00 

Making in all $ 1,374,930 00 

If we add to this sum the value of the lands donated to the Territory 
by the towns where public buildings are located, Dakota's investment in 
public institutions^ about $2,000,000. 



Five-sevenths of the area of the United States, leaving Alaska out of the 
question, lies west of the Mississippi river ; which has a population oi 
8,000,000, while the other two-sevenths has a population of 42,000,000. 



234 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 










«*C 



REFORM-SCHOOL, PLANKINTON. 



i 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 235 



RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



The fact is regretted that, owing to the comparatively short time allowed 
for the preparation of this work, it has been impossible to collate a com- 
plete exhibit of the churches of the Territory, together with their mem- 
bership, etc. However, enough has been learned, and is displayed in the 
statistical table of this article, to convince the reader that the inhabitants 
of Dakota are emphatically a moral and religions people. Ordinarily, the 
settlers of a new country, no matter what may have been their teachings 
and surroundings before going West, are beset by many temptations to 
forget any anxious solicitude about their religious duties. The prairie 
home is to be established; the native sod must be subdued by hard and 
continuous labor, and thus brought to furnish a support for wife and fam- 
ily. - Towns grow up in a day, carrying with them a sudden expansion of 
real estate values, and a rapid increase of mercantile transactions. On 
every hand, are presented opportunities where brains, energy, and toil 
will bring to the possessor, returns of a thousand fold, and it would not 
be strange if, with such surroundings, the church should be relegated, for 
the while, to the back-ground. 

But Dakota is full of surprises to those unacquainted with the real facts 
concerning her rapid growth and development, and in no respect is this 
statement truer than as it relates to the religious and social standing of her 
people. 

Nowhere in the United States will be found a people who, as a class, are 
more deeply interested than Dakotaians in the moral and social welfare 
of the communities in which they live. In their homes, and even in 
the primitive " shacks" and sod houses, the first dwelling-places of the 
settler, are to be found works of art, libraries of instructive books, instru- 
ments of music, and other evidences of taste and culture. 

A correspondent of the Eastern press, writing from the Black Hills, 
emphasizes his surprise, upon learning of the intelligence and book-lore 
displayed by the miners of that region, by writing his paper that he had 
been called on to umpire a dispute between two rough-looking prospectors 
on the relative merits of Bryant's " Flood of Years " and " Thanatopsis." 



236 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

He concludes by saying that many of the miners were subscribers to all 
the magazines published, and, that in a tin prospector's " shack," he 
noticed the best collection of current literature to be seen anywhere out- 
side of a newspaper office. 

Another correspondent, who had just returned from a trip through a 
newly developed agricultural region of northern Dakota, bears testimony 
to the more than usual prevalence of intelligence and culture among the 
people of the new country, by writing that he discovered in many of the 
unpretentious dwellings of the settlers, the choicest works of standard 
literature, including books in French, German, Latin, and Greek, and 
though his journeyings led him to the very verge of the settlements, he 
was astonished at the proofs, everywhere displayed, of the culture, refine- 
ment, and religious training of the people. 

A prominent divine, speaking of his experience in church work in the 
Northwest, says: 

" Some of the most intelligent and devoted audiences that gather any- 
where, are to be found in Dakota. That nervous, anxious solicitude one 
feels as he stands in an Eastern pulpit, does not depart from you as you 
face the average congregation on these plains. Men who fail in the East 
will more than fail here." 

Eastern people whose ideas of Dakotaians, their customs and character- 
istics, have been formed from reading the highly colored tales emanating 
from the imaginative brain of some enterprising newspaper correspond- 
ent, are asked to make a personal investigation and have all such foolish 
illusions dispelled. 

The settlement of the Territory is of comparative recent date, and it is 
true that we are slightly removed, in the way of location, from the boun- 
daries of the New England states, but disappointment, complete and 
overwhelming disappointment, awaits the man, hailing from there, who 
comes to Dakota full of expectations of finding her peopled with an ignor- 
ant, boorish class of frontiersmen, wild and reckless cow-boys, desperate 
cut-throats and villains, with a generous sprinkling of murderous savages 
occasionally thrown in, to leaven the fierce population sometimes as- 
cribed to us in the sensational " write-ups " of the day. In this connec- 
tion, it is quite interesting, and may prove instructive, to present the crimi- 
al statistics of the Territory, placed by the side of those of the states, a 
summary which this office has been at some pains to tabulate. 

It is only necessary to call the attention of the public to the fact that, 
even so early as 1880, Dakota had fewer criminals, as compared with her 
population, than any state of the Union. The reader is left to 
draw such other conclusions and comparisons as the table will suggest. 

The Dakota penitentiaries contained, November 30, 1886, as shown by 
the annual reports of the wardens, 138 prisoners, or one criminal to more 
than 3,800 of the number of inhabitants at that time — a showing which 
challenges comparison with any section of the Nation. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



237 



TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF PRISONERS CONFINED IN PENITEN MARIES, ETC. 
and the ratio of prisoners to population, in the thirty-eight states, and Da- 
kota—compiled from the census reports of 1880. 



States. 



Nevada 

California 

Massachusetts 

Texas 

Colorado 

New York 

New Jersey 

Tennessee 

Maryland 

Oregon 

Kansas 

Georgia 

Connecticut 

Michigan 

Mississippi 

North Carolina I 

Rhode Island J 

Louisiana .-. 

Pennsylvania | 

Alabama 

Illinois 

Virginia j 

Florida I 

Arkansas 

Missouri J 

Kentucky ' 

Nebraska ! 

Indiana j 

Ohio j 

New Hampshire 

Vermont ! 

South Carolina j 

West Virginia j 

Maine j 

Delaware ! 

Minnesota j 

Iowa | 

Wisconsin 

DAKOTA ! 



Pop'n. 


Pris. 

199 


62,266 


864,694 


2,655 


1,783,085 


3,659 ; 


1,591,749 


8,153 


194,327 


380 ! 


5,082,871 


8,808 ! 


1,131,116 


1,599 


1,542,359 


2,129 ; 


984,948 


1,262 


174,768 


233 ! 


996,096 


1.297 


1,542,180 


1,837 ! 


622,700 


782 


1,636,937 


1,928 


1,131,597 


1,329 j 


1,899,750 


1,619 ! 


276,531 


820 j 


989,946 


1,077 ! 


4,282,891 


4,886 


1,262,505 


1,898 


3,077,871 


3.386 ; 


1,512,565 


1,554 , 


269,493 


275 


802,525 


767 


2,168,380 


2,055 


1 ,648,690 


1,428 i 


452,402 


377 


1,978,301 


1,635 


3,198,062 


2,508 


346,991 


273 


332,286 


261 


995,577 


642 


618,457 


394 


648,936 


408 


146,608 


82 


780,773 


428 


1 ,024,615 


811 


1,315,497 


598 


135,177 


60 



Ratio of 
Pris. to 1 
_Pop'n._J 



- H£3d 
1 to 313 
1 to 326 

1 to 487 



to 505 
to 511 
to 577 
to 707 
to 724 
to 741 
to 750- 
to 767 
to 840' 
to 851 
to 851 
to 851 
to 863 



1 to 864 



to 873 
to 877 
to 903 
to 923 
to 973 
to 980 
1 to 1,046 
1 to 1,055 
1 to 1,159 
1 to 1,200 
1 to 1,210 
1 to 1,245 
1 to 1,271 
1 to 1,273 
1 to 1,550 
1 to 1,570 
1 to 1.590 
1 to 1,788 
1 to 1,824 
1 to 2,003 
1 to 2,200 
1 to 2,253 



Education, and moral and religious culture go hand in hand; and as Da- 
kota supports more schools, employs more teachers, and publishes a 
greater number of newspapers, compared with the number of her inhabit- 
ants, than many of the states of the Union, so does it naturally follow that 
she should lead in the way of religious intelligence. 

The statistical exhibit, on page 238, does not include figures showing the 
churches, ministers, and the membership of the lutheran, mennonites, 
universalist, unitarian, and other denominations, which have a consider- 
able following in the Territory. 



233 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



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RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 239 

f r So far as this office has been able to collect the facts, there are, in Dako- 
ta, something near 800 ministers, representing different denominations, and 
caring for more than 1,000 separate charges. These religious organiza- 
tions own more than 600 church edifices — not including parsonages, 
schools, missions, etc; — and the entire value of all church property in the 
Territory will certainly exceed $3,000,000. 

Few, if any, of the Eastern states can present so strong an argument in 
proof of the moral and religious standing of their inhabitants. 

A study of the detailed exhibit of church statistics on the preceding 
page is made more interesting by the addition of the following historical 
facts connected with the first establishment of religious work in the Ter- 
ritory : 

Rev. S. W. Ingham, now pastor of the methodist church in Fargo, wag- 
the first resident clergyman of any denomination in Dakota. Mr. Ingham; 
was assigned by Bishop Baker, of the Iowa conference, to Vermillion, 
Clay county, where he arrived Oct 12, 1860, and, on the following Sabbath 
preached his first sermon in the Territory, in a little log building about 
18x24 feet in size. 

Rev. J. Bell, now so well known as an evangelist, was a member of Rev. 
Ingham's church at Vermillion, and aided in organizing the first Sunday- 
school. 

Rev. F. M. Wood, sy nodical missionary of the presbytery of north Da- 
kota, is authority for the statement that: 

"In 1871 there were no missionaries in north Dakota except, post 
chaplains, and those preaching to Indians. At that date, viz.: December 
1871, the Rev. O. H. Elmer entered upon work at Fargo, preaching in a 
tent on the banks of the Red River. This was the beginning of denomina- 
tional work, and, indeed, of all church work in this part of Dakota. The 
Rev. I. O. Sloan followed, at Bismarck, in the spring of 1873. It is said 
that no other denomination entered work till 1875. From this time the 



* (a.) Including value of college and academy buildings, and eleven churches 
among the Indians. 

(5.) One hundred and twenty-three churches and 100 missions without churches, 
but regularly visited by priests; total, 223. 

(c.) Catholic population of the Territory, including children. 

(d.) Including the support of five boarding-schools. 

(e.) Adherents. Bishop Hare writes that "missions have been established amongst 
all the tribes of Sioux Indians, nnd have been very fruitful in results. Thirty-five con- 
gregations have been gathered. More than 1,400 have been presented for confirmation. 
Nearly 1,200 are enrolled as communicants. Their contributions to religious objects 
amount annually to more than §2,000." 

Note.— The item of "expenditures" represents the annual outlay for support of 
pastors and ordinary church and Sabbath-school expenses. The amount expended in 
church improvement and extension, is not included. 

The Methddist university, at Mitchell, Congregational colleges, at Yankton and Red- 
field, Presbyterian college, at Jamestown, and the Baptist university, at Sioux Falls, 
are not included in the estimate of the value of "church property" credited to the de- 
nominations respectively named. 



240 KESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

rush of population began, and denominations rivaled each other for posi- 
tion, till it resulted in multiplying churches, many of which are the prom- 
inent churches of today." 

Bishop Marty, of the catholic church, writes that he came to Dakota in 
1880, as vicar apostolic, and found but eight priests in the whole Terri- 
tory, — where now are eighty priests, and a catholic population of more 
than 50,000. 

The following letter from Rev. D. P. Ward, Sioux Falls, missionary of 
the American Sunday-school union and secretary of the Dakota Sunday- 
school association, tells of the wonderful increase in the number of Sun- 
day-schools in the Territory, during the short space often years: 

" Twenty-six years ago this summer, the first Sunday-school in Dakota 
was organized at Vermillion. For the last ten years, the growth of this de- 
partment of christian work has been very gratifying. Our population has 
increased in this time about 600 per cent. The Sunday-schools have in- 
creased fully 1,200 per cent. The writer of this has traveled, for eight 
years, over the prairies of Dakota, from six to twenty thousand miles per 
year, and has found intelligent, educated people in every commun- 
ity. The interest people have taken in the Sunday-school and church is 
remarkable. The home mission societies of the evangelical churches 
have done a great deal for Dakota. The American Sunday-school union 
has organized, through its missionaries, over 600 Sunday-schools in 
Dakota. 

" We have today fully 1,000 Sunday-schools in Dakota, and 40,000 mem- 
bers. Ten years ago we bad but sixty-five Sunday-schools and 2,500 
members. 

" No state or territory in the Union can show so good a record of ad- 
vancement in Sunday-school work as Dakota. 

" The Dakota Sunday-school association was organized thirteen years 
ago, and has^for its motto, 'Dakota for Christ.' We believe in thorough 
organization, and have already over forty counties organized, for the ob- 
ject of advancing the Sunday-school work in the count}'. With the pres- 
ent rate of progress, not many years hence, Dakota will stand near the 
front in christian work, and this will have been accomplished by the united 
effort of christian people earnestly desiring to fulfill the Divine command 
of ' Go Teach all Nations.' " 

According to the statement of Mr. Ward, Dakota is credited with more 
Sunday-schools than California, nearly twice as many as Florida, Louis- 
iana, New Hampshire or Vermont, and more than the states of Delaware, 
Nevada, Oregon, and Rhode Island combined. 

It will be seen that Dakota, young as she is, offers to the home-seeker 
religious and social privileges equal to those enjoyed by many of the old- 
est and most cultured centers of the East. 

A pretty strong indication of the sober and industrious traits charact- 
erizing the people who inhabit Dakota, is to be had from the fact that at 



RESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 241 

the special election of 1885, the question of prohibiting liquor traffic in 
the new State of South Dakota, (upon which a separate vote was had,) was 
decided in the affirmative by a majority of the 31,791 ballots cast. 

By a law, approved March 11, 1887, it was provided that if a petition 
signed b}' at least one-third of the legal voters of any county, as shown by 
the preceding general election, shall be presented to the county commis- 
sioners, at least sixty days before the next November election, praying 
that the question of prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors be sub- 
mitted to a vote of such county, it shall be the duty of the board of county 
commissioners to call such election, etc. And should a majority of the 
ballots cast be against the sale of intoxicating liquors it shall be unlawful 
for the board of county commissioners of such county to issue or grant a 
license for that purpose, etc. 

This measure had scarcely received the breath of vitality, when steps 
were undertaken in each county, almost without exception, by the ardent 
workers in the temperance cause, (and in this class, in Dakota, must be 
placed first and above all others, the mothers, wives, and daughters,) to 
test the sentiment of the people. 

Of the eighty-six organized counties in Dakota, sixty-five furnished the 
requisite number of signers to the petitions calling for a decision by ballot 
— the result of which (so far as announced), has been that eight, only, of 
the counties, where the question was voted upon, have decided to continue 
the sale of liquor. 

By an act of Congress, approved May 20, 1886, the nature of alcoholic 
drinks and narcotics, and special instruction as to their effects upon the 
human system, is included in the branches of study taught in every public 
school of the Territory. The law provides that a school director, com- 
mittee, superintendent, or teacher who refuses or neglects to comply 
with this requirement, shall be removed from office. 

No certificates can be granted to teach in the public schools of Dakota, 
(after January 1, 1888,) unless the applicant has passed a satisfactory ex- 
amination with reference to the nature and effects of alcoholic drinks and 
other narcotics upon the human system. 



242 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



THE RAILROADS. 



The settlers of Kansas, Nebraska, and Minnesota,. in the early clays, had 
a pretty hard time of it, if yon take the situation in Dakota for compari- 
son. Going West in the '50s meant a great deal more then, than it does now. 
Then it signified the abandonment of society, tlie loss of the refining in- 
fluence of churches, schools, neighbors, and friends. It meant a weary 
journey of days or weeks by wagon, into a country where the fear of an 
Indian outbreak was a constant menace. A year was occupied in the la- 
borious effort of building the cabin of hewn logs, and in clearing and 
breaking the few acres set apart for the farm — for, in those days, toois 
and farming implements were crude affairs, and everything had to be 
done by hand. A journey for supplies, or to market the few bushels of 
farm product, necessitated a long absence from home and family, and was 
the event of the year. 

Villages, with their following of churches, schools, and society, came 
only with the advent of the first railroad, ton, or perhaps, twice that 
number of years afterward. Twenty years ago, the railroads followed the 
path of civilization and settlement — and did not lead it, as they do now. 
Then, they awaited the results of the hardy pioneer's efforts, and only 
sought an extension of their lines where a heavy traffic and a successful 
business was already assured. 

But the record of railroad building and settlement in Dakota has wit- 
nessed an entire departure from the history of other days. The shrewd 
capitalists at the head of the great railway corporations of the Northwest, 
saw that here, in this Territory, containing the last of the public domain, 
with a soil growing the finest natural grasses in the world, and possessed 
of every essential condition for successful farming, was to be built up the 
most populous and prosperous agricultural community of the Union. 

The few settlements in the southeastern counties, and along the Red 
River of the North, made between the years of 1860 and 1870, and the re- 
sults of farming in the surrounding states of Minnesota, Iowa, and Ne- 
braska, had practically demonstrated the fertility of Dakota's soil. 

The track of the first railroad in the Territory, was laid on January 1, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 243 

1872, and from that date to the present time, there have been built more 
than 4,000 miles of completed roads — an average of 300 miles each 
season, for fifteen years. Until the last two or three years the railroad 
construction of the Territory was in advance of settlement, or immigra- 
tion, and the same is true of some lines being built today. The writer re- 
members traveling through the Territory, in the fall of 1880, over a road 
then newly built, and he can never forget the feeling of loneliness, caused 
by the sight of such an expanse of vacant prairie, — reaching away to the 
very horizon on every side. The entire day was spent in riding 
over a country barren of the least sign of civilization. Not a house, 
not even the settler's "shack" was to be seen anywhere, — nothing but 
an ocean of virgin soil bearing an occasional convoy of frightened ante- 
lope. Counties were unorganized, and even the Government surveys 
had not then been made. Today, the same counties are filled with splen- 
did farms, and the homes of well-to-do people. Villages are so close to- 
gether that one is scarcely ever away from the sight of a town. Some of 
the larger towns have grown to cities of several thousand population, 
with electric lights, artesiari wells, water- works, street railways, manufac- 
tories, and magnificent business blocks. The comparisons given below 
Will emphasize the remarkable growth accomplished in so short a period: 
Beadle county, in 1880, had 37 acres in farms; in 1885, 135,834. 
Brown county, in 1880, had 468 acres in farms; in 1885, 248,346. Kings- 
bury county, in 1880, had 197 acres in farms; in 1885, 130,068. Nelson re- 
turned no acreage in farms in 1880, neither did Walsh nor Steele, but in 
1885 Nelson had 70,532 acres under cultivation, Walsh 212,000, and Steele 
76,469. 

Dakota's population in 1860, taken from the United States census re- 
turns, was 2,576; in 1870, 13,000; in 1880, 133,548; and in 1885, 415,610. To- 
day careful estimates show T the Territory to possess a population of 
600,000. 

Dakota's remarkable increase in population, from 1870 to the present 
time, has never been equaled in the history of the development of any 
state or territory and is the marvel of the world. It is plainly to be as- 
cribed to the fact of the railways pushing ahead of the tide of immigration 
and making every section of the grand Territory easily accessible. Going 
West today, is not the great undertaking, the tedious journey of twenty- 
five years ago. Comfortably seated in a Pullman, and taking one's meals 
in a dining-car, is somewhat different from the experience of the 
pioneers of earlier days. 

Today, you can board a through train, in any city of the East, and tomor- 
row you are landed on the prairies of Dakota, within sight of your future 
home. Your car-load of household goods, machinery, and stock is on the 
side track, awaiting your arrival. Material for the house is furnished at 
the nearest village and it takes but a day or two, ere your family is in- 
stalled on the homestead. With improved machinery, and no trees or 



244 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

stones to be cleared from the land, yen are enabled to break forty, sixty, 
or a hundred acres, and plant to crop the first season. Churches, schools, 
and neighbors, surround you on all sides and you soon learn that Dakota 
is quite as civilized and as desirable a place to live in as the home you 
left behind in the states. 

Truly, times have changed, and, notwithstanding the accusations against 
" grasping corporations," and " soulless monopolies," Dakota owes much 
of her present magnitude and prosperity to the builders of her railroads. 

* In 1871, the Northern Pacific railroad was extended west as far as the 
Red River of the North, the track reaching to the eastern bank of that 
river, on the Minnesota side, on December 31, 1871. 

The dav following, January 1, 1872, the rails were laid on Dakota soil, 
in the gate city of Fargo. 

This was the first railroad built in the Territory, although only several 
months ahead of the second. 

The Dakota Southern road, now a part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 
Paul railway, was projected in 1871, and built into southeastern Dakota 
from Sioux City, during the same year, 1872, that the transcontinental 
line, several hundred miles to the north, was laid across a vast uninhabi- 
ted plain, on its way to the Pacific ocean. 

The line above and the one below was each pushed forward, during 
1872, and in the spring of 1873, Yankton, then the capital of the Territory, 
and Bismarck, at the time hardly an aspirant for similar honors, were both 
connected by rail with the rest of the world. 

The railroad growth for the next eight years kept in advance of the set- 
tlement, but the development of Dakota, and the masterly activity of her 
railroads, are dated more particularly from 1880, when the Territory had 
a population of 135,177, and a railroad mileage of 698 miles. 

The "boom" years, as they were called, of that period, in the Red 
River valley, and beyond, and subsequently in central Dakota, were 
marked by extraordinary enterprise on the part of the railway companies. 

The Territory of Dakota was thereupon advanced to a prominent place 
in the list of states, as given in the railroad mileage and building statistics 
of the country. " 

The year 1885 was a dull season, generally, in new railroad construction. 
The railroads in Dakota were waiting for the settler and the Territory to 
catch up with the progress already made, and the lines of settlement 
reaching out in advance. 

During this year, however, the Black Hills began to feel the exhilara- 
tion consequent upon the assured approach of a railroad, and before the 
end of the year the people of that region were able to take the cars at 
Buffalo Gap, where the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley railroad 
stopped for the winter. The mileage in Dakota of the new Black Hills 
line, added in 1885, amounted to thirty-seven miles. 

* Hon. Lauren Durilap, in January Bulletin, Department Immigration, Dakota. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 245 

During the same year the Chicago & Northwestern railway built into 
Yankton from Centerville, a distance of twenty-nine miles, and lines of 
the Northern Pacific railroad were,, respectively, built from Jamestown 
to LaMoure, forty-nine miles, and extended from New Rockford to Min- 
newaukan, a distance of thirty miles. 

The total mileage constructed in 1885 in Dakota was 145 miles. 

The year 1886 was one of great activity, and a number of very important 
enterprises were inaugurated, which added a large mileage. The Chicago, 
Milwaukee and St. Paul railway, in that year, completed 250 miles of new 
track, and the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba, added 230 miles to its 
mileage in the Territory. The total number of miles of track laid during 
1886 was 679. 

The season of 1887 has added 716 miles of completed track to the rail- 
way systems of Dakota, as fully particularized on pages 11-14 of the intro- 
ductory to this publication, making ihe total mileage in the Territory 
to-day 4,207, or more than had, (January 1, 1887,) any one of twenty-five 
states of the Union, and the equivalent, almost, of the combined mileage 
of all the other territories. 

At this writing, eight of the strongest railway corporations of the North- 
west, viz.: The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul; the St. Paul, Minne- 
apolis and Manitoba; the Chicago and Northwestern, (controlling also the 
Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley, and the Chicago, St. Paul, Minne- 
apolis and Omaha;) the Northern Pacific; the Burlington, Cedar Rapids 
and Northern and the Minneapolis and St. Louis — both under the man- 
agement of the "Rock Island" system — the Illinois Central, and the 
Minneapolis and Pacific have a foothold in the Territory, with the cer- 
tainty of the addition, each year, of the future, as in the past, of some new 
giant competitor for the division of Dakota's growing and profitable 
traffic. 

The advent of a new season of railway construction invariably brings 
with it a struggle among the great and wealthy corporations for the pos- 
session of valuable territory — a rivalry which must continue, at least, until 
Dakota, with three times the area of the state of Illinois, (for example,) 
shall possess a corresponding ratio of railroad accommodation to the ex- 
tent of her boundary, or, in other words, Illinois, with an area of 56,000 
square miles and railroads 10,000 miles in length, is a demonstration that 
Dakota, with an area of 151,000 square miles, may confidently expect the 
extension of her railway systems, of the future, to exceed the astounding 
sum of 30,000 miles. 

The following comparative table of the railway mileage of the United 
States, January 1, 1887, is compiled from the statistical abstract issued by 
the national treasury: 



246 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

DAKOTA'S RAILROAD MILEAGE, IN 1887, COMPARED WITH STATES AND OTHER TERRITORIES. 



Rank. States. 




"•"";. 


47 RHODE ISLAND, 


I 


210 


4G DELAWARE, 


I 


316 



4 5 INDIAN TEE, 
44 WYOMING TER., 
43 IDAHO, 
42 WASHINGTON TER 



MARYLAND & DIST. OF COL. 



36 
35~ 

34~ 

33 

3jT 

§T 

3jT 

29_ 

28 

27_ 

26~ 

25_ 

24_ 

23_ 

22_ 

21_ 

20. 
19_ 

18_ 

Vt_ 

16^ 
15 

14 
13 

It 

11 

1£ 

9 



MONTANA, 



UTAH, 



MAINE, 



WEST VIRGINIA, 



OREGON, 



NEW MEXICO. 



LOUISIANA, 




363 



735 



812 



945 



41 VERMONT, 


fiH 


947 


40 NEVADA, 


BH 


954 


39 CONNECTICUT, 
38 ARIZONA, 


—si — - 


976 
1,005 


37 NEW HAMPSHIRE, 


pp— i 


1,050 



1,065 



1,139 



1,152 



1,156 



1,230 



1,23?, 



1,265 



1,380 



SOUTH CAROLINA, 



FLORIDA, 



NEW JERSEY, 



MASSACHUSETTS, 



KENTUCKY, 



MISSISSIPPI. 




1,819 



1,924 



1,963 



2,017 



2,070 



2,094 



ARKANSAS, 



TENNESSEE, 



NORTH CAROLINA, 




ALABAMA, 



VIRGINIA, 



COLORADO, 




2,168 



2,183 



2,195 



2,289 



2,734 



2,956 



CALIFORNIA, 



i,312 



GEORGIA 



3,358 




9,274 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 247 



NEWSPAPERS. 



A glance at the comparative table, on the following page, will tell the 
reader that a greater number of newspapers are published in Dakota than 
in any one of twenty-four states of the Union, the list including Minne- 
sota, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, New Jersey, and North 
Carolina. 

The number of newspapers, printed in the Territory, is double that pub- 
lished in either Alabama, Mississippi, Maryland, Arkansas, Maine, 
Connecticut, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Florida, Colorado, or Louisi- 
ana; three times as many as in either South Carolina or Oregon ; live times 
the number given to Vermont or Rhode Island, and ten times that of 
Delaware or Nevada. 

Of the 352 newspapers published in Dakota, at the time of this writing, 
twenty-five are dailies, 314 weeklies, and the remainder — thirteen, 
are published quarterly, monthly and semi-monthly. Three hundred 
and forty-five are printed in English, three in Scandinavian, one 
in Dutch, and three in German. Three hundred and thirty-rive are news- 
papers of general information, five agricultural, thrt-e religious, one med- 
ical, and eight educational. 

There is iot a word of unmerited praise in the following extract from 
an editorial on the press of Dakota, published in an influential journal of 
a leading city of a neighboring state: 

" Of all the marvels of the great Territory of the Northwest, there is 
hardly one more remarkable than the press of Dakota. The newspaper 
press of Dakota is perhaps the most signal index to the intelligence, 
energy, and progressiveness of the people of the Territory. It is useless 
to go into the statistics of the subject. If the informed world had not 
ceased to be surprised at any demonstration of progress in Dakota, com- 
parisons could be made in both the number of papers, the extent of their 
issues and the percentage of distribution with reference to population, 
which would be surprising in the last degree. But such figures and com- 
parisons suggestive as they are and showing that the newspaper press of 
Dakota is superior to that of more than one- third of the states of the 
Union, would fail far below the real truth. Only one, who, day by day, 
month by month, and year by year, reads and studies the many-paged 
book of the Territorial press, and sees in all their stages the processes of 
its growth, is really prepared to appreciate this marvel of marvels." 

The railroads and newspapers have been the greatest aids in the rapid 
development of Dakota's resources. 



248 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

DAKOTA'S NEWSPAPERS, 1887, COMPARED WITH STATES AND OTHER TERRITORIES. 



Rank. 



States. 



Newspapers. 



48 

w_ 

46] 

44] 
43 
42] 
4T 
40_ 
39" 



INDIAN TER., 



WYOMING TER. 



UTAH, 



NEVADA, 



DELAWARE, 



ARIZONA, 



NEW MEXICO, 



26 

20 
28 



34 



MONTANA, 



41 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 



RHODE ISLAND, 



_51 

52 

70 



37 

36] 
35' 
34~ 
33 
33 
31 
30 
29 
38_ 
27] 
26] 
35~ 
24^ 
23 
22~" 
21 
20 7 
19 

is" 
W 

16 

15 
14 
13 

1 1 
U 

10 



WASHINGTON TER. 



VERMONT, 



OREGON, 



SOUTH CAROLINA, 



95 



FLORIDA, 



NEW HAMPSHIRE, 



LOUISIANA, 




103 



112 



120 



MISSISSIPPI, 



_129 
T32 



WEST VIRGINIA, 



MAINE, 



141 



ALABAMA, 



146 



COLORADO, 



152 



ARKANSAS, 



156 



NORTH CAROLINA, 



162 
165 



CONNECTICUT, 



MARYLAND, 



171 



TENNESSEE, 



208 



VIRGINIA, 
KENTUCKY, 



GEORGIA, 



231 



NEW JERSEY, 



266 

325 

^52 



MINNESOTA, 



DAKOTA, 



TEXAS, 



375 

376 
Tl4 
422 



NEBRASKA, 



CALIFORNIA, 



WISCONSIN, 



INDIANA, 



564 



MASSAC II US ETTS, 



581 
~59~2 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 249 



FARMERS' ALLIANCE. 



President, H. L. Loucks, Clear Lake; vice presidents, J. W. Hardin, 
Piankinton; F. B. Fancher, Jamestown; secretary, C. A. Soderberg, 
Hartford; treasurer, Z. D. Scott, Milbank; lecturer, A. D. Chase, Water- 
town . 

. This organization, of the farmers of Dakota, has been in existence for 
three years, and originated from the desire of the farmers to avail them- 
selves of the benefits of co-operation in the purchase of farm supplies, 
and the sale of grain. It has grown steadily from its first organization, 
and, at present, numbers over 15,000 practical and operative farmers. Dur- 
ing the present year, (1887,) the growth of this organization has been 
phenomenal. This is due largely to the formation of two departments or- 
ganized within the alliance, viz.: The alliance hail association and the 
purchasing department. The former was incorporated under the laws of 
the Territory, in February, 1887, with the following representative far- 
mers as officers: Alonzo Wardall, president; H. TV. Smith, vice presi- 
dent; S. D. Cooley, Eecretary; Z. D. Scott, treasurer; home office, Mil- 
bank, Grant county. 

During the season just past, over 2,000 members had about 160,000 acres 
of crops, protected through the organization. This department insures 
its members against loss from hail or cyclone, at the actual cost. The pur- 
chasing department has been under the charge of J. B. Wolgemuth, of 
Piankinton, and has saved to the farmers a vast sum of money. Its aim 
is to furnish form machinery, twine, coal, etc., at wholesale rates, and as 
they were brought into active competition with local dealers, prices of 
these articles were greatly reduced, and was available to every farmer, 
whether a member or not. It is estimated, that in 1886, one-quarter of a 
million dollars was thus saved to the farmer in the matter of twine alone; 
while this year, 1887, it will overreach the immense sum of one and one- 
quarter millions of dollars. Where fully organized, these alliances saved 
in the shipment of wheat, from three to eight cents per bushel, and on 
coal, from $1.50 to $2.00 per ton. This department is yet in its infancy, 
and will exert an immense influence in the interests of the farmer. July 
20, this year, it was decided to incorporate this department with a cap- 
ital of $200,000. Officers were elected, and the machinery of the company 
put in operation. 



250 



RESOIJKCES OF DAKOTA. 





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RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



INDIAN RESERVATIONS. 



The boundaries of these reservations, (see table on opposite page,) are 
outlined on the maps issued by this office, and their location in the Ter- 
ritory can be easily determined by a reference thereto. 

The different reservations have an Indian population as follows: 



Ch ey en ne River agen cy 

Crow Creek and Lower Brule. 

Devils Lake 

Fort Berthold 

Pine Ridge agency 

Rosebud 

Sisseton 

Standing Rock 

Yankton 

Ponca 



Male. 


Female. 


Total. 


1,337 


1,628 


2.965 


1,121 


1,153 


2,274 


1,088 


1,004 


2 182 


610 


712 


1,322 


2.376 


2,497 


4,873 


8,725 


4,566 


8,291 


708 


788 


' 1,496 


2,190 


2.500 


4.690 


786 


990 


1,776 


103 


104 


207 



Total. 



16,032 



J0,076 



These Indians are confined to the reservations, as designated in the ac- 
companying schedule; are cared for by agents appointed by the Govern- 
ment, and one seldom sees them unless induced through curiosity to visit 
an agency — for that especial purpose. Those who have been led, by the 
sensational articles occasionally appearing in the press, to believe that 
the residents of Dakota live in continual fear of an Indian outbreak, are 
assured that our Indian imputation gives us far less trouble, or annoyance 
than is caused, in almost every locality of the East, by the mischievous 
tramps, always to be found there. So far as displaying characteristics of 
energy and thrift, or inclinations to create trouble, or to do mischief are 
concerned, the tramp of the East and the Indians of Dakota make an ex- 
cellent comparison. 

There has not been a single outrage or act of depredation committed by 
Indians — as a tribe — upon the settlers, since the actual settlement and real 
development of the Territory began. 

One is safer in traveling, unarmed, over any part of Dakota, even through 



252 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

the very midst of an Indian reservation, than in going about in certain 
wards of some of the larger cities of the Nation. 

Dakota leads all the states and territories (excepting, of course, the In- 
dian Territory,) in the extent of her Indian population, and the area of 
her Indian reservation — although she is not so proud of this distinction as 
she is of her prestige in other directions. 

It will be observed that 26,847,105 acres, or nearly one-fifth of Dakota, 
an area greater than that of either Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, 
Indiana, South Carolina, Maine, or West Virginia, more than four times 
that of Maryland, Vermont, or New Hampshire, over five times larger 
than Massachusetts, or New Jersey, eight times the size of Connecticut, 
twenty-one times that of Delaware, or thirty times greater than the area 
of Rhode Island, is set apart for the use of 30,076 Indians. If the existing 
reservations were divided equally among the Indians of Dakota, there 
would be 892 acres to every man, woman, and child. 

The following interesting statements, regarding the Indian population 
of the Territory, are gathered from the report of the United States com- 
missioner of Indian affairs — for the year 1886. 

Twenty-three thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine of the Indians in 
Dakota, wear citizens' dress, either wholly or in part; leaving 6,087 as the 
numbe: who cling to barbaric styles. 

The number of male Indians who undertake manual labor in ciyilized 
pursuits, is 9,261; of families engaged in agriculture, 5,455; and in other civ- 
ilized pursuits, 1,166. The number of Indians who can read, is reported 
at 4,960. Four hundred and ninety-five allotments of land have been 
made to Indians. Four thousand, four hundred and seventy- six Indian 
families occupy log-cabins or other rude dwellings, most of which were 
built by Government aid. The number of births during the year, was 
978 and the number of deaths 816 — being an excess of births over deaths 
of 162, and showing that the race is gradually increasing in population, in- 
stead of decreasing as is the popular opinion. Indeed, it is estimated 
that there are more Indians in the United States to-day, by a very consid- 
erable number, than were nere a hundred years ago. The first relia- 
ble count of the number ol Indians in the country, was had in 1873— when 
the population wa^ found to be, about 240,000, while the census of last year 
shows an Indian population of 247,761. To support these 247,761 Indians, 
the Government expended in 1886, $6,099,158, or 124.62 per capita. 

There are 26,590 acres under cultivation by Indians of Dakota, who 
raised a «?op in 1886, of 89,628 bushels of wheat, and 89,785 bushels of corn. 
The stock owned consists of 20,196 horses and mules, 18,547 head of cattle 
and 2,083 swine. 

Although the reports given out by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 
relative to the condition of the Indians in the Territory, are quite flatter- 
ing, and might lead the uninitiated to believe that the tribes are rapidly 
adopting the manners and customs of the white man, — yet, the high color- 



KESOUKCES OF DAKOTA . 258 

ing of his pictures of progress, is too apparent to those who are in posi- 
tion to know the facts. To see the Indian in all his native filth, decked 
out in paint and Teachers, armed with his inseparable gun and other relics 
of savagery, followed by his squaw who, as the beast of burden, carries on 
her back not only the "papoose," but also such articles de voyage, as her 
lazy lord and master may deem necessary, does not impress one very 
favorably, with the idea of his early civilization. Visit one of the Indian 
agencies on a ration day, (on which occasion a number of cattle 
is killed, for the beef that is to be issued,) and see the squabble between 
the dogs and the native red man for the possession of the entrails and 
offal of the slain cattle, and the impression that the Indian is yet allied 
closely with his barbarian habits, becomes a conviction. 

The Government may erect houses for him, but he prefers to live in his 
tepee, or canvas tent; practical white-farmers are employed to break and 
till his land — while he follows the life of a nomad. The Indian has but 
little taste for agricultural pursuits other than the raising of stock. Most 
of his time is spent in traveling to and from the agency where he draws 
his rations, clothing, and annuities, or else in the hunt or chase, living 
the while in the open air, surrounded by a lot of mangy curs, a scrawny 
"cay use," and a number of dirty, naked children. 

A committee of United States senators recently visited a tribe of West- 
ern Indians, which had been subjected to special " civilizing" influences 
for more than twenty years, and found two or three hundred bucks and 
squaws, with a thousand snapping dogs, engaged in celebrating an old lite, 
by an Indian dance. They report that the scene, which included poly- 
gamous wives, babies bound upon slabs, and naked youths of both sexes, 
was a painful revelation, and that it was especially sad to learn that two 
of the sprightliestof the dancers, almost covered with little looking-glasses, 
sleigh-bells, rings, feathers, and ribbons, were graduates of the Carlisle 
Indian school, who had lapsed into their original state of degradation. 

The present Indian policy of the Government, is a total failure, so far as 
it has resulted in any real benefit — either to the red man or his support- 
ers— the tax payers of the country. And how can it be expected other- 
wise? So long as our Government will maintain the Indian in idleness, 
by furnishing him with food and clothing, and a vast play -ground on 
which to perpetuate his nomadic traits — so long must we look for him to 
remain, the idle, worthless vagabond he is to-day. White people, black 
people, or people of any race or color, would do no better under similar 
conditions. The history of the civilization of all the progressive races of 
the world, dates from the time of the establishment of individual homes 
by fixed and determined bounds, and the maintenance of those homes by 
the sweat of the brow. There is room for a better and wiser Indian pol- 
icy than the Government has yet adopted or employed. 

ALLOTMENTS IN SEVERALTY. 

This was a step, decidedly in the right direction, taken by the last Con- 



254 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

gress, providing the intent and meaning of the law can be enforced among 
the Indians. Following is a brief synopsis of its provisions: 

An act approved so late as February 4, 1887. authorizes the President of 
the United States, whenever in his opinion, any reservation (excepting 
the reservations belonging to the five civilized tribes in the Indian Terri- 
tory and the reservations of Senecas, of New York), or any part thereof, 
is advantageous for agricultural and grazing purposes, to cause the reser- 
vation, or any part thereof, to be surveyed, or resurveyed if necessary, 
and to allot lands in severalty to any Indian located thereon, in quantities 
as follows: 

To each head of a family, one-quarter of a section. To each single per- 
son over eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section. To each orphan 
child under eighteen years of age, one-eighth of a section. To each other 
single-person under eighteen years of age, one-sixteenth of a section. 

If any one entitled to an allotment shall fail to make a selection within 
four years after the President shall direct that allotments may be made in 
a particular reservation, the Secretary of the Interior may cause a selec- 
tion to be made for such Indian. 

Patents covering these allotments are issued to the Indians with a pro- 
viso forbidding the alienation of the lands for a period of twenty-five 
years — or for a longer period, if the President deems best. After lands 
have been allotted to all the Indians of any tribe, or sooner, if in the 
opinion of the President it shall be for their best interests, the Secretary 
of the Interior is authorized to negotiate, in conformity with the treaty 
under which the reservation is held, for the purchase, by the United 
States, of any portion of the reservation not allotted. When such a pur- 
chase of the residue of an Indian reservation has been ratified by Con- 
gress, the lands are to be held subject to entry by actual settlers only, 
under the provisions of the homestead law. 

The sums paid by the United States as purchase money are to be held 
in trust, by the Government, for the sole use of the tribe to whom such 
reservation belonged ; and, the 'principal and interest at three per cent. 
per annum, is at alltimes subject to appropriation, by Congress, for the 
education and civilization of the tribe. 

Upon the completion of the allotments, each member of the respective 
tribes of Indians to whom allotments have been made, is to have the 
benefit of, and be subject to, the laws, both civil and criminal, of the state 
or territory in which ^he may reside. AndV a every Indian to whom allot- 
ments have been made is declared to be a citizen of the United States, 
and entitled to all the rights, privileges, and immunities of such. 
^This law is now being put to a "practical .test, where the circumstances 
and conditions of the Indian tribes will permit of its enforcement, and the 
results will be watched with deep interest by the people of this Territory 
— who have almost as great an interest at stake as the Indians themselves. 
It is hoped the law will accomplish several desirable purposes. By break- 



RESOURCES O* DAKOTA. 255 

ing up the tribal relations of the Indians, it will put an end to the anomal- 
ous condition of affairs which has compelled the Government to enter into 
a treaty with its own subjects, as with a foreign nation. 

No matter how wise, humane, and beneficial the plan for the ameliora- 
tion of the condition of the Indian, heretofore devised by the Govern- 
ment, before it could be carried out, it must first receive the ratification 
of two-thirds or three-fourths (according to treaty stipulation,) of the 
male adults of a people who are rigidly averse to the adoption of the cus- 
toms of civilization. 

It is, then, not to be wondered at that the efforts of the Government to 
lead the Indians into a condition of independence and self support, have 
ended in miserable failures. The position assumed by the United States, 
in treating w T ith the poor, degraded, ignorant, red man, is as ridiculous 
as would be that of a guardian of a minor, if required, to first gain the con- 
sent of the child before taking steps looking toward future self-support 
and independence. 

There are now, upon the reservations of the United States, 247,761 In- 
dians, occupying 135,978,345 acres of land, or 550 acres to each man, 
woman and child, or 1,270 acres to every male over the age of rixteen, of 
the Indian population of the country. But 372,276 acres, (or about an 
acre in a thousand), are tilled,, leaving the enormous number of 135,606,069 
acres of idle and unproductive land, an area equal to that of the states of 
Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Maryland, West Virginia, Maine, South Carolina, 
and Indiana combined. 

In times past, when these reservations were covered with game, there 
may have been reason in setting apart such vast tracts of the public do- 
main as hunting grounds for the Indian. But the game has long since 
disappeared; the red man relies now entirely upon the Government for 
his food and clothing, and this vast surplus of land is not of the least ben- 
efit to him, only so far as its sale, to the best advantage, will create a fund 
from which to relieve the people of the Nation of the expense of his sup- 
port. After giving every Indian his allotment, as provided by the law 
quoted, there will remain considerably over a hundred millions of acres 
of surplus land, which will furnish homes for five or more millions of 
people. To longer deprive the home-seekers of the right of entry on this 
vast area of waste and idle land — most of it, the finest agricultural land in 
all the world is a wrong greater than the system of landlordism of Europe, 
against which Americans are accustomed to utter the loudest ex- 
ecrations. And, to make the comparison more odious, the English land- 
owner will rent his possessions, thus making them productive, while the 
Indian neither tills the land himself nor will he permit others to do so. 

By the enforcement of the land in severalty act, it is hoped to cure this 
wrong, and not only open to settlement the vacant reservations, after 
having provided each Indian with_a farm of reasonable size, but also, give 



256 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

him (the Indian) the benefit of the civilizing influences of a contact with 
the commerce and industries of every kind which will be introduced by 
the white settlers. 

From the sale of the surplus lands, a fund will be created for the sup- 
port of the Indians, until they are self-supporting,, without expense to 
the Government. And, lastly, the Indians are made amenable[to the laws 
of the country like every other inhabitant, which is in consonance with 
the views held by General Crook, General Sheridan and others who, from 
long associations, are familiar with every shade of Indian character. 

By request of the Indians the President has authorized allotments to be 
made, under the provisions of the severalty law, of the Devils Lake, and 
Lake Traverse or Sisseton reservations in Dakota, and the work prelimi- 
nary to carrying out the President's directions has already begun. 

The Yankton, and the old Ponca reservations have been placed upon 
the list of Indian reservations to which the severalty act will soon be ap- 
plied. In this way there will be opened to settlement, possibly within 
another year, about 1,220,000 acres of as fine agricultural land as contained 
within the boundaries of the Territory. 

We have these Indians as our neighbors, (where probably they must 
always remain,) and the Territory is deeply interested in any feasible 
plan by means of which they, and the immense estates occupied by them, 
can be brought to contribute some little toward the building up of Da- 
kota, instead of the parasitic support now demanded. It is believed that 
the immediate breaking up of all tribal relationship; compelling the 
selection of land in severalty; endowing with citizenship; the gradual 
withdrawal of Government support, and the establishment of schools and 
industrial institutions on or near the reservations, will the soonest ac- 
complish the enfranchisement of the Indian. 

THE GREAT SIOUX- INDIAN RESERVATION. 

This reservation stretches from the Missouri river on the east, to the 
Black Hills on the west, from the northern 'Nebraska boundary line 
on the south, almost to the town of. Bismarck, in northern Dakota. 

Including the old Winnebago, which -has been decided to be a part, 
it is the largest reservation in the United States, other than the Indian 
Territory. It contains 22,010,043 acres, on which reside 23,093 Indians of 
both sexes and all ages, which would give 953 acres of land to every indi- 
vidual of the entire population. 

Within this reservation, through which flow numerous streams, well- 
timbered, are some of the finest agricultural and stock lands in the Terri- 
tory, a portion of which will, almost assuredly, be opened to settlement at 
the approaching session of Congress, by the passage of what has become 
to be popularly known as the u Dawes Sioux bill." This bill was intro- 
duced in the Forty-eighth Congress, was passed by the Senate and re- 
ceived the favorable report of the House committee on Indian affairs. 
The same measure was presented to the Forty-ninth Congress, again 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 257 

passed the Senate, and would have become a law, undoubtedly, bad the 
matter been presented to the House by the chairman of the committee 
having the bill in charge. 

There is every reason to expect that, before the expiration of another 
season, at least one-half of this vast domain,, larger than the state of 
Indiana, South Carolina, Maine, or West Virginia; more than three times 
the size of Maryland, Vermont, or New Hampshire; over four times that 
of Massachusetts or New Jersey; seven times that of Connecticut, and 
nearly twenty times the area of Delaware, almost every acre of which is 
now an unproductive waste, will be thrown open to settlement. 

This will not only add about 11,000,000 acres to the Government lands 
of the Territory— increasing to a corresponding extent our wealth and 
population — but will permit of the extension westward from the Missouri 
river, into the Black Hills country, of the several railroads which have 
long awaited this result, and thereby give the settlers east of the river 
access to the coal-fields, the lumber-mills, the salt, petroleum, and other 
interests lying west of the reservation. 

Within a distance of 200 miles west of the Missouri river, these products 
— now the most expensive items to the people of the Territory — are to be 
had in abundance, from all of which — and traffic and business inter- 
course with the 60,000 residents of the Black Hills — the inhabitants of Da- 
kota east of the river, are entirely cut off, so long as the reservation re- 
mains closed to development. 

The difficulty met with in endeavoring to apply the provisions of the 
severalty act, heretofore alluded to, in the reduction of the immense pro- 
portions of the Great Sioux Indian reservation, is the fact that the law 
proceeds upon the fundamental assumption that the full consent of each 
particular tribe or band of Indians, must be obtained, or the allotments 
to all cannot be made — or the surplus land opened to settlement — at least 
not for a term of years. To deal thus with 23,000 Indians, and they show- 
ing as little progress in civilization as any Indians of the Nation, practically 
makes the law a nullity, so far as this particular reservation is concerned. 
It is admitted, by all, that the great and vital interests of the Northwest 
demand the immediate opening to settlement and railway communication 
of this barrier to the full development of the Territory, and that this re- 
sult can only be speedily accomplished by the passage of such a measure 
as the one referred to — the bill of Senator Dawes, (or one of similar im- 
port,) which contains all of the valuable provisions and safeguards of the 
severalty act, has received the approval of the Honorable Secretary of 
the Interior, the Honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the Indians 
Rights' association, (a society of philanthropic men, who are pledged to 
protect the interests of the Indians,) the various missionary associations, 
having representatives among the Indians, has twice passed the Senate, 
and is acceptable to the people of the Territory. 

Under the treaty of April 29, 1868, setting apart this reservation for the 

(9) 



258 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

different tribes of Sioux Indians, the Government agreed to furnish them, 
for a period of years, clothing for men, women and children, and to em- 
ploy blacksmiths, physicians, school teachers, carpenters, farmers, etc. 
The Honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs makes the following esti- 
mate of the annual cost to the United States, of carrying out that treaty 
stipulation : 

Purchase of clothing for men, women, and children $130,000 

Blacksmith, and for iron and steel 2,000 

For such articles as may be considered necessary by the Secre- 

. taryofthe Interior 200,000 

Physicians, teachers, carpenters, millers, farmers, etc 10,400 

Purchase of rations and subsistence 1,100,000 

Total annual expenditure $1,442,400 

This is exclusive of the cost of keeping up the several agencies, em- 
ployment of agents, interpreters, and other expenses attending the ful- 
fillment ot this agreement between the Indians and the Government. 

The passage of the Dawes Sioux bill, will relieve the tax-payers of the 
Nation from the heavy burden by the creation of a fund from the sale of 
the surplus lands, out of which the Indians are to be supported until they 
arrive at a condition of independence. 

TUETLE MOUNTAIN INDIAN RESERVATION. 

In January, 1886, the honorable Commissioner of the General Land 
Office, Washington, suspended the contracts which had been let by the 
surveyor general of the Territory, for the survey of some fitty-four town- 
ships, lying north and west of Devils Lake, and known as the Turtle 
Mountain region. The Commissioner based his action on the ground that 
the Turtle Mountain band of Chippewa Indians, numbering about 250, 
laid claim to the lands in this section, covering, in all, some 10,000,000 
acres. 

April 14th of the present year, the Secretary of the Interior revoked 
this order of suspension, and directed that the contracts for surveys 
should be carried out, and the filing of the plats of surveys in the proper 
local land offices, in order that the lands might be at the disposal of set- 
tlers. 

The question of Indian title, thus happily determined by the Honorable 
Secretary of the Interior, in favor of the homesteader, has opened to 
settlement a tract of land in Cavalier, Towner, Rolette, Bottineau, 
Renville, Wells, and other counties of the Devils Lake, Turtle Mountains, 
and Mouse river countries, larger than the state of Delaware. 

The rapid extension, during the past two years, of the main line and 
branches of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railway system, 
through the rich agricultural and stock lands of this region, had brought 
about a heavy immigration of home-seekers, who had settled upon a part 
of these lands without any knowledge of the claims of the Chippewas. 

While the order of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, sus- 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 259 

pending the surveys, as first referred to, caused the many thousand set- 
tlers in the northern portion of the Territory considerable temporary 
annoyance, all is now fortunately ended. The contracts for surveys are 
being rapidly carried to completion, many of the " plats" have already 
been filed in the land offices at Devils Lake and Bismarck, and some of 
the most valuable lands are thus open to homestead, pre-emption, etc. 

FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN RESERVATION. 

By the terms of an agreement with the Indians residing upon the Fort 
Berthold reservation, made by the Government commissioners, under the 
provisions of the act of May 15, 1886, the Indians in question, cede to the 
United States over 1,600,000 acres of excellent farming land, for the sum of 
$800,000, payable in ten yearly installments of $80,000 each — which sum is 
to be expended in their civilization and education. The agreement was 
completed at too late a date to receive the approval of the Forty-ninth 
Congress; but the treaty will undoubtedly be ratified before the expira- 
tion of the present year, and the purchased lands will then become sub- 
ject to entry. The lands ceded include all that portion of the reservation 
lying north of the Forty-eighth parallel of north latitude, and all that por- 
tion lying south of the Forty-eighth parallel, and west of a line drawn 
from north to south, six miles west from the most westerly point in the 
big bend of the Missouri river. The tract contains some fine farming 
lands and excellent stock ranges, lying on both sides of the Missouri 
and its tributary streams. This reservation is traversed by the main line 
of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba railway, and settlement of the 
lands will be rapid, as soon as the agreement with the Indians has re- 
ceived the ratification of Congress. 



"Never was the confidence of the money men in the East more solid. 
Millions upon millions will be sent to the Northwest this season for in- 
vestment. Dakota with the railroad development now going on within 
her borders, will, I think, secure the lion's share of the attention of East- 
ern capitalists." — Theodore Roosevelt, of New York. 



260 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



DAKOTA'S FINANCIAL CONDITION. 



From the Territorial treasurer's last report, it is learned that the re- 
ceipts from taxation during the year ending November 30, 1886, (exclusive 
of railroad gross earnings tax, collected for, and paid the different coun- 
ties,) amounted to $398,552.93, and the disbursements from the general 
fund were $326,741.22— being an excess of receipts from regular sources 
over disbursements, for the year, of $71,811.71, and that] there remained 
in the treasury, at this time, a total cash balance of $232,982,63. 

The total bonded indebtedness of the Territory, November 30, 1886, was 
$568,700. 

Since that date this indebtedness has been increased by the issuance 
(under authority of acts passed at the last session of the Territorial Legis- 
lature to provide funds for the construction of buildings, permanent im- 
provements, etc., for various public institutions,) of bonds to the amount 
of $510,100— making the total bonded indebtedness today $1,078,800— 
which is nearly $300,000 less than 1 per cent, of the assessed valuation of 
Dakota, as returned in 1886, and a half million dollars less than 1 per cent, 
of the 1887 assessed valuation. 

For this bonded indebtedness of $1,078,800 the Territory has an invest- 
ment in public institutions, including the costs of grounds, buildings, and 
permanent improvements, and the value of lands donated, representing 
at least $2,000,000. 

Of the late issue of bonds, $40,). LOO bear interest at four and one-half per 
cent.; $92,500 are 5-20's; $84,500 are ,20's; $L4,300 are 10-20's; $29,000 are 
10-30's; $188,800 are 15's; $10] ,000 bear interest at five per cent. ; $76,000 are 
10-20's, and $25,000 are 10's. 

Of the bonds issued by the Territory prior to these last named, $468,200 
bear interest at six per cent and $100,500 bear interest at five per cent. 
The ready sale, in May, of the present year, of $409,100 of bonds bearing 
but four and a half per cent, interest, and that, too, at a premium of more 
than half of one per cent., speaks volumes for the financial standing of 
Dakota— more especially when it is understood that under the laws gov- 
erning the savings banks, and other monetary institutions of the New 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 261 

England states, the usual purchasers of state and National securities, their 
reserve funds cannot be invested in the bonds of a territory. 

The Federal census of 1880 placed the bonded indebtedness of all the 
states and territories of the Union at $1,117,585,546, of which nearly 
$1,000,000,000 at that time called for a rate of interest greater than four and 
a half per cent, and ranging as high as ten per cent. The placing of Da- 
kota's securities at a rate of interest below that ever before obtained by 
this, or any other, Territory, and less than is paid by a large number of 
the states, is, indeed, a flattering comment on our financial management 
and credit, and a matter concerning which every Dakotaian has a right to 
feel proud. 

This faith of Eastern capitalists in the security offered to those who in- 
vest in the bonds of the Territory comes only after a thorough investiga- 
tion of Dakota's present resources and future possibilities. It means that 
careful, discerning investors have looked us over and discovered the fol- 
lowing facts: A sound and honest financial management exercised by 
our administrative officials; a limitation by Congress of the total indebt- 
edness which the Territory may create to one per cent, of the assessed 
valuation of all taxable property — and a further limitation of the total in- 
debtedness which any municipality may incur to four per cent, of its as- 
sessed valuation — furnishing the people of the Territory, and the Terri- 
tory's creditors a permanent security against possible mal-administration 
or extravagance; and lastly — the rapid development of our unlimited re- 
sources, a constant and marked advance in the value of realty and other 
property, a steady flow of immigration and a corresponding increase of 
acreage in farms, the addition each year of nearly a thousand miles of 
new road to our already extensive railway systems, the building up of 
towns and cities and the extension of mercantile, manufacturing, and 
mining interests — all of which have convinced the wisest and most cautious 
judges of financial stability that the w T orld offers no better security than 
that scheduled by Dakota to her creditors. 

It is impossible to present a stronger argument in favor of the certain 
progress and development of the Territory in the future as in the past, 
and the profit awaiting those who today invest in Dakota's cheap farm 
lands, than this very confidence of wise and conservative capitalists and 
investors as displayed by the willing purchase of our securities — and the 
heavy investment of capital in railway extensions and other enterprises. 

A prominent banker of the Territory, in a paper read before the Dakota 
Bankers' association, at the annual convention, held at Watertown, in 
May of this year, speaking of the soundness and safety of investments in 
realty and Western securities, said: 

"It may be stated as beyond controversy, that during the past fifty 
years, in no state or territory, which, at any given time was classed as of 
the newer West, have farm lands in such state or territory failed during 
a period of say five or ten years to advance materially in market value. 



262 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

For example, unimproved lands, which in certain sections of western 
Iowa, could in the year 1830, be purchased at a price of from eight to ten 
dollars per acre, or even less, now find ready market at from ten to fif- 
teen dollars per acre. So also, in southeastern and extreme eastern Da- 
kota, lands of like description, which in 1882 were gladly sold at four to 
six dollars per acre, now readily command from eight to twelve dollars 
per acre, and it may be added that in sections of Nebraska and Kansas a 
much higher percentage of advance has occurred during the past five 
years than in the sections first cited. 

" The causes which produce this advance in the price of land need 
hardly be indicated. Among the principal ones may be given: 

"First. The improvement in the way of cultivation, buildings, tree 
planting, etc., made by the farmer upon the land, the title to which he 
has by settlement and purchase acquired from the Government. 

"Second. Constant immigration, which gradually absorbs the unimproved 
lands in any given section, and thus advances the price of lands in that 
immediate neighborhood. 

"Third. The establishment of villages, the building of school houses, 
the increasing of mail facilities and other improvements of a similar char- 
acter. 

"Fourth. And perhaps the strongest element, is the rapid, and seeming- 
ly ever increasing railway building whereby more convenient market fa- 
cilities, and thereby lower freight rates are furnished, by reason of which 
the net price obtained by the farmer for his agricultural products is made 
materially larger. This increased net profit from farming, inevitably en- 
hances the value as a market commodity of all farm lands in that immed- 
iate section." 

Understanding then, the causes which strengthen the values of realty 
and lead to the eager investment of capital in Western lands and Western 
enterprises, a study of the progress and development now going on in 
Dakota will reveal at once the secret of the confidence of investors in the 
stability and the future of our Territory. 

The earliest accessible record of the financial affairs of the Territory is 
the following "Treasurer's report 1865-6," copied verbatim: 

"Office of the Territorial Treasurer, \ 
Yankton, Dakota Territory, Dec. 5, 1866. J 

To the Council and House of Representatives of Dakota Territory: 

"I have the honor to report the condition of the treasury, in obedience 
to the duty imposed upon me by the statutes of the Territory. 

"I have received from the treasurer of Union county $60, which is now 
in the treasury. There is still in the hands of the sheriff of Union coun- 
ty, not paid over to me, $96.42. By the laws of the Territory the sheriffs 
of the several counties are not required to make their returns of collec- 
tions until the 1st of December, and there has not been sufficent time 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 263 

since for this amount to be transmitted to me. The treasurer of Clay 
county reports that there are $40 in his hands due the Territorial treasury, 
not yet paid over. 

"The treasurer of Yankton county makes no report of any money in 
the treasury. I am unable to lay before you the condition of the amounts 
due the Territory from that county. 

" In the counties of BonHomme, Charles Mix, and Todd, no taxes have 
been levied, and no collections made. 

RECAPITULATION. 

In my possession $60.00 

Remaining, unpaid, in the hands of the sheriff of Union 

county $ 96.42 

Due from the treasury of Clay county 40.00 



Total due and unpaid $136.42 

Respectfully submitted, 

' I. T. Gore, Treasurer.' " 
The following table shows the receipts and disbursements by the Terri- 
torial treasurer from 1867 to to 1879, inclusive : 



Year. 


Receipts. 


Disburse- ' 
ments. 


Excess of re- 
ceipts over 
disbursements. 


Excess of dis- 
bursements 
over receipts. 


1867 


s 326 49 

529 46 

548 25 

1,017 56 

1.334 77 

1,895 07 

2,597 90 

6,307 96 

3,412 69 

7,030 67 

19,326 88 

21,007 65 

41,212 11 


s 357 75. 
552 40 

574 50 

026 75 

1,287 24 

1,613 211 

2 780 59 




$ 31 26 


1868 




22 04 


186;) 


""&" 00*81 '" 
47 53 
281 86 


26 25 


1870 




1871 




187° 




1873 . 


182 69 


1874 


5,905 06 

2,826 08 

8,404 33 . 

15.544 70 

23,280 24 . 

42,238 26 . 


312 00 

586 61 




1875 




1876 


563 66 


1877 


3,782 09 




1878 


2 272 50 


1879 (to Nov. 30).. 




1,026 15 





For each year since 1879, the assessed valuation of all taxable property 
in Dakota has been as shown in the accompanying table : 

(See next page.) 



264 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



ASSESSED VALUATION OF DAKOTA, 
From and including the year 1885. 



















c 




































.2 
































































































































1879 


| | Total $16,267,096 
















1 


IS 
























^ 
















.,, 


















-H 00 a- 
























33 1-H =--., 




















1880 




Total 


$20,321, 


530 








































15 I 5 




















































^ 








































>= I 


^ 






















c* 


5. i „ 


r-5 






















/J o 


fill 


















1881 


^3 *1 

3 TO 


i Total $32,055,288 














^ > 


? r * -^ 


3 
























i | j 


° 
















>> >> 


















* CO 


&* a - 


:: 1 8 














1882 




2 o 

3 io 


- 5-2 r 


w J 3 

-5 _ j^ 


Total S 












h 


3* 


7^5 > 


S 1 vi 




















s 


5 


a - 3 






















,0 






















>> i 












1883 




-3 


I 

CO 




3 2, ? j 


3 K 


<- 


Total $68,044,812 












J 






r ~" ~? 


3 H 


s 
















































>5 




-fl 










1884 








CO 

o 






3 r ~' 


"3 






CO 
CO 




Total $85,881,484 


















■^ 






























'--> 








































tC 










Z! 


1 








_- O — 




1 1 






O 1 


Total 


1885 




-b 








s a jo 
c ^ 




£ 






hI 3 


$106,499,550 






3 


o 








1= s 




> 1 






> 














lO 

















^ 
























>> 








■s 








-3 




30 










onal 

ropert 

(305.855 


c 


GO 




i— i 




1886 




3 
hJ 














'_ 






2 c; 




















0* 


5 


rH 




1 a 

c $132. 


Total 




















dt 






542.703 






-> 














>> 




Z& 





3 




r3 


o 














-0 » 




O 


00 

I- 


m 


1887 




§3 














III 

0* 




O 
> 

3 


CO 


is. 

-< 00 

> 

1 ^ 




















ii 






Total p 



RESOURCES 01 DAKOTA. 265 

The assessed valuation of the Territory as returned in 1887 — $157,084,365 
— represents much less than one-half the real value of the property taxed, 
so it may be said that the taxable wealth of Dakota exceeds by a consid- 
erable amount the sum of §320,000,000. 

The rapid development of Dakota's resources, in twenty years, from 
the standing of an unknown quantity to the splendid record of today is 
surprising even to us Avho, from a long residence in the Territory, have 
become somewhat accustomed to the marvelous. For the last seven 
years the yearly increase in the assessed valuation of taxable property 
has averaged §20,000,000, or an annual growth in Dakota's wealth, if rep- 
resented in real values, of about §40,000,000. During the past three years 
the annual increase has averaged §24,000,000 — oi an aggregation annually 
of forty-eight millions to the Territory's side of the ledger. It maybe 
safely predicted that the next three years, 1890, will see the total footings 
of Dakota's assessment roll increased by at least §100,000,000. 

In 1866 the Treasurer reports the collection of §60.00 — Territorial taxes 
and, (according to the next entry in the record,) immediately proceeds 
to deplete the overflowing coffers of the Commonwealth by cashing a 
warrant for his annual salary, amounting to the princely sum of §50.00. 
Ten years afterward, in 1876, his collections amounted to §7,930.27, and 
his disbursements to §8,007.36. With the lapse of another decade, in 1886 
we find the Treasurer's receipts amount to §398,552; his expenditures to 
§326,741, a surplus in the treasury of §232,982, and an assessed valuation in 
1887 of §157,084,365, representing a real value of at least twice this amount. 
In 1871 Dakota had not a single mile of railroad; today she has over 4,000, 
or more tnan twenty-six of the states, and with a certainty of the addition 
of at least a thousand miles of new track each succeeding year. 

At this date over 700 miles of new track have been added to the railway 
mileage of the Territory since January 1st, 1887. 

In 1875 the value of school property in the Territory was but §24,926, 
which had increased last year to §3,000,000. 

Dakota's live stock was valued in 1870 at §779,952; today this invest- 
ment foots up the enormous sum of §43,195,229. 

In 1880 we raised 2,830,289 bushels of wheat, and only four years after- 
ward (1884,) the crop had increased to 38,166,413 bushels — an advance of 
more than 1,300 per cent. 

To give a better idea of the progress of farm-making and land develop- 
ment in Dakota, the accompanying tables are presented, showing the 
value of farms, acreage in farms, and value of farm implements, and ma- 
chinery, according to the National census reports for the years 1860, 1870, 
1880, and the Territorial census of 1885. 

VALUE OF FARMS. 



1860 


1 


Dollars. 
96,445 


1870 


■ 


2,085,265 


1880 




22,401,084 



266 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

It will be observed that in five years, from 1880 to 1885, the number of 

farms had increased nearly 500 per cent.; the farm areas over 400 per 

cent.; their value 700 pei cent., and the average value per acre 200 per 

cent. 

ACREAGE IN FARMS. 

A cres. 



1860 


i 


26,448 


1870 


BHM 


302,376 


1880 




Wk 3,800,656 









The points of greatest significance in this table are the rapid reduction 

of unimproved land, from over nine-tenths of the area in 1860 to nearly 

one-half in 1885, and the lessening in size of farmp and increase of their 

number. 

VALUE OF FARMERS 1 IMPLE- 
MENTS AND MACHINERY. 

Dollars. 
1860 1 15,574 

1870 B 142,612 

1SS0 ~ SR3S 2,390,091 

1885 ffil^ 13,867,687 

The average assessed valuation of land per acre and the average levy 
for all the Territorial purposes from 1881 to date are given in the table 
below. 



I Averaged 
Year. assessed Average tax levy, (Territorial.) 

value per acre. 



1881 $3.02 ! 3 7-10 Mills. 

1882 3.49 ! 3 7-10 

1883 3.95 ; 3 1-2 

1884 3.49 | 3 3-7 .' 

1885 3.35 3 

1 86 3.87 2 4-10 

1887 3.67 I 2 9-10 



While there is an increase this year of one-half of a mill in the average 
levy as compared with that of 1886 the average assessed valuation of lands 
is less by about 5 per cent., thereby making the increased taxation to the 
land-owner but 1 mill to the acre, or 16 cents to the farm. 

The total county indebtedness, bonded and floating of the Territory, 
amounts to $3,258,442. Deducting from this the amount of cash on hand 
and in sinking funds, leaves a net indebtedness of all the counties of 
$2,964,139, or less than two per cent, of their assessed valuation for 1887, 
or one-half of the statutory limitation. These county bonds bear a rate 
of interest averaging 7 per cent, and were issued in nearly every instance 
to provide funds for the erection of court-houses, bridges and other per- 
manent and necessary improvements. 

Estimating the population on June 30, 1887, to have been 550,000, Da- 
kota's total county indebtedness per capita was then $5.39; Territorial, 
$1.96; county and Territorial, $7.35. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



267 



SUMMARY OF COUNTY [NDEBTEDNESS. 

Compiled from returns of County Clerks and Auditors to the Territorial Statistician. 



Counties. 


Amount of bonds 
issued. 


Amount of war- 
rants outstanding. 


Amount of cash in 
sinking fund. 


Cash on hand for 
warrants. 




$32,000 

55,000 

50,000 

7,500 


s 3,335 

43,208 

10,450 

8,571 

39 






Barnes 

Beadle 


1,276 


3,357 

1,059 

402 




224 




363 


BonHomme 


27,000 


1 ,534 


4,448 
903 




9,360 
8,862 
3,766 

23.452 
2,924 

60,000 
6.550 

10.745 

49,805 
7.086 
6,987 
6,764 
905 
5,073 
2,663 


Brookings 

Brown 


2,500 


2.046 


2,111 
10,725 






645 


Buffalo .. 






323 


Burleigh 


67,750 

14,849 


2,800 
1,545 


2,000 


Butte (5) 


1,331 


Campbell 


465 


Cass 


155,000 
6,000 
4,900 


29,014 





Cavalier 




Charles Mix 


323 


Clark 




130 

"■444* 


958 


Clay 


8,000 

35,000 
58,846 
65,000 
15,000 
1 1 ,500 
20,500 


480 


Codington 


3,903 




74 


Davison (d) 






4.734 




(a) 9,819 

3,257 

138 


Deuel 






3,000 

8.000 
2,986 


700 


Douglas 




Eddv 


2,500 
15,000 




748 


Edmunds {e) 






24,075 

*6,917 

7,000 

7,103 




263 


Fall River (*) 






554 


Faulk 




::::::::::::::: 


5,000 


Foster 






247 




42,150 

107,550 

30,000 


9,942 



8,934 


Grant 


700 
28.103 

5,411 
27,640 

7,617 


70C 




906 


Hamlin (f) 





281 


Hand 






Hanson (X) 


10,000 

59,100 

3,967 

18,600 




1,001 






1,893 
602 


173 


Hutchinson '. 





3,155 


Hvde 


2,000 
14,042 
17,823 




Jerauld 




119 




20,000 
13,000 
30,000 




1,500 


Kingsbury 





5,000 


Lake 


2,329 
17,737 
69,949 





892 


La Moure.. 




■"21,*799 " 


7,806 




545,450 




Lincoln 


4,449 


Logan 




7,720 
2.600 


;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; 


423 


McCook (g) 


20,000 









268 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



summary of county indebtedness, (Continued.) 


CO 




.9 


rO . 


w r-f 


-73 




Counties. ° § ■ 


CO 


o b£ 


-t-= CO 


-I- 3 "S 


•+-> fl 


o 


§ 5 


o.S 


g 


2 S 


a * 


< 


«i£ 


^ 



Pi -^ 



McHenry 


■ 


6,094 
3,451 1 

13,622 
8,156 
7,220 

11,496 
5,933 




156 


Mcintosh 






122 


McLean (h) 








McPherson 

Marshall 




460 
850 


Mercer 








Miner 


10,000 
19,800 
5,200 
65,000 
30,000 




1,002 


Minnehaha 


8,455 
'"2,062" 


Moody.- 


5,856* 




Morton 


7,292 


Nelson 


550 


Oliver 


2,628 




11 


Pembina 


40,000 
64,900 
10,000 
20,000 




Pennington 


48,273 

10,136 

18,618 

5,000 




1,417 


Potter 






Ramsey 

Ransom (i) 


626 

'"9,551" 

3,038 


4,549 


Richland 


30,513 
12,000 

io'ooo * 


24,630 


Roberts 

Rolette (k) 


14,621 
19,110 
13,114 
8,870 
10,939 


410 
3,053 


Sanborn 

Sargent 

Spink 


""648" 


1,000 

3,159 
6,598 


Stark 


15,000 

12,000 

1,150 

24,150 
25,000 






Steele 


28,799 
21,297 




4,520 


Stutsman 





2,940 


Sully 




400 


Towner 


5,053 
13,386 

27,525 

(?) 7,000 

2,037 

9,340 




368 


Traill 

Turner 

Union 

Walsh 


1,369 


13,819 
8,311 

15*690 


Walworth (II) 




598 


Ward m 






Wells 




7,425 

7,238 




375 


Yankton 


344,300 


2,154 


936 




■$ 2,378,175 


$ 880,267 


$ 101,852 


!$ 192,451 



REMARKS. 

Fall River. (*) Amount taxes for 1884 and 1885, delinquent, $3,041, leaving indebted- 
ness, $3,322. 

Hamlin, (f) As per statement of July 1, 1886. 

Hanson, (i) Has about $3,000 delinquent personal tax to add to the redemption of 
■warrants. 

Union, (g) Estimated amount of county debts. Does not issue warrants faster than 
there is monev in treasury to pav them. 

Walworth. (|) Delinquent tax due county and sinking fund, 1884, $1,898.05,— 1885, 
$823.83; uncollected taxes du county and sinking fund, $4,266.05. 

Day. (a) Includes warrant of Marshall county to the amount of $7,401,65, their share 
of county indebtedness :it the time of division. 

(b) As per report, dated July 1, 1886. 

(c) As per report, dated July 1, 1886. 

(d) As per report, daied January 1, 1S86. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 269 

From the Federal census of 1880 we rind the following states and terri- 
tories have a per capita state and county indebtedness exceeding that of 
Dakota : 

STALE AND COUNTY INDEBTEDNESS PER CAPITA. 



Louisiana 


....$26.10 
.... 20.24 




$ 9 08 


Virginia 


Arkansas 


8.98 


Tennessee 

Colorado 

Missouri 


19.95 

.... 13.91 

12.98 

12.50 

12.27 

12.06 


Maryland 

Alabama 

South Carolina 


8.91 

8.53 

8.24 


New Hampshire 

California 

Massachusetts 

Arizona 


Connecticut 

Maine 

Montana 

*8.73 


8.13 

7.90 

18.50 



If the figures giving the present municipal indebtedness of the Terri- 
tory were obtainable, it is believed Dakota would show a debt per capita 
below any state or territory of the Union. In 1880 her municipal debt 
was but 837,290, or one twenty-seventh of her total indebtedness at that 
time — a showing equaled in the entire Nation by onty the two territories 
of Idaho and New Mexico — while in sixteen of the states the municipal 
indebtedness amounted to a larger sum than the state and county debt 
combined. 

A reliable authority places the present mortgage debt of the farmers of 
the Territory at about $3.21 per acre, which probably represents 33-J per 
cent, of the real valuation of the property. Comparing this with the 
farm indebtedness of the Eastern states as given in the report of the sta- 
tistician of the U. S. Department of Agriculture for March, 1887, we 
find in the great and wealthy state of New York, "30 per cent, of the farms 
in the state are mortgaged, ranging from 2 per cent, of their value to 100 
per cent. ; averaging 66§ per cent, of estimated value ;" that "probably one- 
third of the farms in the state would not sell for more than the cost of 
buildings and other improvements," and that "one in twenty of the farm 
proprietors is hopelessly in debt." 

The same authority estimates 25 per cent, of the farmers of Pennsyl- 
vania to be in debt, while not more than 5 per cent, are hopelessly so; 
Michigan has one-fourth of her farms mortgaged for amounts varying 
from one-fourth to one-half their value; in Indiana 10 per cent, of the 
farmers are in debt beyond the amount of their credits; 30 per cent, of 
the farmers of Missouri are in debt beyond their credits — exclusive of 
store accounts; 20 per cent, of the farmers of Kansas are in debt beyond 
the amount of their credits, and 50 per cent, of the farms are mortgaged. 

(e) As per report, dated January 1. 1886. 

(/) As per report, dated July 1, 1886. 

(gr) As per report, dated January I, 1886. 

(A) As per report, dated January 1, 1886. 

(i) As per report, dated January 1, 1886. 

(k) A s per report, da\ed January 1, 1886. 

(!) No county indebtedness. 



270 EESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 

The mortgage debt of the farmers of Dakota is the natural and inevita- 
ble result of the development of a new Territory. It has been incurred 
in "proving up" on Government ltnd, in purchasing deeded farms, in 
building and fencing, in stocking with animals and machinery, and in 
prairie breaking. When we consider the rapid advance in real estate 
values in the Territory, and the fact that the farm indebtedness was not 
created through extravagance, the purchase of top buggies or other lux- 
uries, but was a necessary indebtedness incurred in the development of, 
and making permanent improvements on, the land mortgaged— we are 
convinced that the farmers of Dakota are in a far more hopeful condition, 
financially, than those of any other locality of the Union. 

It must be remembered that the great majority of our farmers are 
young men and others, who came West with limited means, having little 
else besides health, energy, and a determination to succeed; and who are, 
(in most instances,) for the first time, owners of a farm and a home of 
their own . 

* It has been said by those most learned in political economy that the 
inducement to improve and stock a farm, on the basis of free land, is 
sufficient to warrant incurring indebtedness in the security of youth, and 
will, and muscle; and the gradual reduction of the debt, while the prop- 
erty is increasing in value, is a surety of ultimate removal of the burden. 

* * -X- "- * * -X- 

To such as commenced judiciously, with a full knowledge of the re- 
sponsibilities involved, and with will and industry commensurate with 
the burden assumed, a mortgage may prove a blessing. It represents 
capital, without which the business of farming cannot be undertaken, or 
its products and profits be secured. It enables a poor, but capable and 
industrious young man, to secure a home and a profitable business, pay- 
ing for it in easy installments. 

The element of time in liquidating debts of pioneer settlement and 
improvement is obvious, for a large proportion of American farmers have 
settled with little capital and have erected houses and barns, built fences, 
dug ditches, felled forests or broken prairie bv labor of their own hands. 

* Debts of farmers— report of U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 271 



LAND ENTRIES. 



THE SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, IN DAKOTA, FOR THE YEAR ENDING 

JUNE 30, 1887. 

There were 13,855 new filings during the year ending June 30, 1887, un- 
der the general land laws, as follows: Homesteads, 4,771; pre-emptions, 
4,946, and tree claims, 4,138. 

The area newly filed on during the year was 2,067,281 acres. 

There were 10,750 final proofs made, of which 6,592 were cash entries, 
3,787 final homestead entries, and 371 timber culture proofs. Of the cash 
entries, there were 4,581 proofs made under the pre-emption law, and 
2,011 commuted homesteads. 

The area acquired by final proof and cash entry, during the year, was 
1,586,672 acres, and that purchased by land scrip 2,887 acres. 

There has been a very large immigration during the year named, to 
the Deadwood, Devils Lake, and Bismarck districts, where much of the 
public land remains unsurveyed. 

The area of unsurveyed lands taken up, but not filed on, is estimated 
as being equivalent to one-third of the area filed on in these three dis- 
tricts, or about 200,000 acres, and the number of squatter claimants, not 
including their families, is about 1,400. 

The sales of lands to settlers by the Northern Pacific railroad company, 
and private owners in different sections of the Territory during the same 
period can only be approximated. However, it is safe to estimate these 
sales as equivalent to 20 per cent, of the area of the Government lands filed 
on for ihe year or about 400,000 acres acquired by private sale. 

The grand total of lands newly filed on and purchased by immigrants 
for settlement for the year in question, therefore, closely approximates 
the number of 2,667,28 L acres, or 4,168 square miles, an area four times 
greater than that of Rhode Island, about three times that of Delaware or 
nearly that contained within the boundaries of the state of Connecticut. 

The following table shows the public land entries at each of the ten 
United States land offices in the Territory for the year ending Tune 30, 
1887: 



272 



EESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 



Districts. 



ft . & 

CD 

I 

o 

w 



Yankton 

Mitchell 

Watertown ... 

Huron 

Aberdeen j 

Dead wood 

Fargo | 

Grand Forks- 
Devils. Lake.. 
Bismarck j 



CD 
CD 

ft 

124 
236, 
677 
613 
612, 

539; 

493! 
544! 
596| 

482 j 



ft_ CD 



157 
339, 
622 

■63>: ! 
725 
187 
635 
673 
364 
439 



157 

361 
588 
769 
465 



+3 CD 

ft^ 



CD | 

ft 



3 TO <T) 

a ^-^ 

O to£ 
O 



147 
320 

502 
709 
843 



CD 

to 

CD 

a 

O 
o3 o 

ft* 



CD 


| 


?H 


| 










+a 








53 




CD 








CD 


o 
o 


H 


ft 






H 


1 



131, 488 
564^ 222 
387 518 
366: 533; 
350 299; 
J ! 



139 356 

190 1 924: 

320 842 

572 383 ! 

376 157' 

73 101 



100 

151 

68. 



548' 

344; 

19 



144! 
140i 

47; 



22 113 



57,317 
137,816 
294,169 
220,856 
296,193 
135,292 
267,845 
249,175 
205,737 
202,881 



-° a 



•3§£ 
o fta 

« fl 3 



<3 

^ ft 

3 o 
ft ^ 

CD S 
u i— i 
<1 



117,445. 

225,240 

256,9291 

256,396; 

194,608' 

89,933; 

134,430 

157,622. 

91,194 

62,875 



480 
160 
640 
240 
40 
480 



187 
160 



Totals 4,946 4,7714,138 4,581' 2.01li3,787' 371 '2,067,281 il,586,672J2,3S7 



And the next table is the same showing; bv months: 





bfi 


c3 


CD 


8 . s® 

u w o _, 

ft cd ,jd *G 


CD 
to 


CD 
53 

+3 




ed by 

f and 
s. 

sed by 










,-H fl 


& 






t>a 


h O ffl ! 8 . 


Months. 


ft 

a 

CD 

CD 
f-i 


CD 
CD 

a 

o 


3 
CD 

CD m 
& b£ 

a. 5 


o 53 
'43 CD 

cb I 


onimuted 
steads — c 
tries. 


a 


r-H O 

C3 


53 

^8 
|ft 


CD 

CO . 

CD g 


cres acqui 
final pro 
cash entri 

cres purch 
land scrip 




ft 


w 


H 


ft 


O 




< 


< \< 


Julv, '86.... 


805 


474 


675 


478 100 


339 


77 


302,403 


135,5391 640 


Aug., '86... 


289 


351 


314 


302j 88 


174 


22: 


143,875 


75,506 560 


Sept., '86... 


293 


373 


286 


306! 117 


150 


13 


144,153! 


84,566 280 


Oct., '86.... 


355 


453 


393 


578! 259 


267 


381 


180,429! 


170,608! 40 


Nov., 'Siy... 


351 


456 


367 


634i 317 


374 


18' 


178,571; 


185,167! 27 


Dec, '86... 


205 


372 


204 


526! 276 


370 


15 


117,991; 


179,638 




Jan., '87.... 


168 


273 


209 


347| 204 


238 


17 1 


97,791 i 


127,971 




Feb., '87... 


138 


187 


152 


207| 137 


185 


4 


61,084, 


84,405 


240 


March, '87. 


439 


425 


300 


2631 137 


263 


19 


164,172! 


102,812 




April, '87.. 


667 


454 


373 


258 104 


382 


29 


219,211 


116,125 




Mav, '87... 


631 


478 


432 


371 


140 


557 


43 ! 


228,298' 


168,751 


200 


June, '87... 


605 


475 

4,771 


433 


311 


132 


488 


76! 


229,303 


155,584 400 


Totals.... 


4,916 


4,138 


4,581 


2,011 


3,787 


871 


2,067.2811 


1,586,672 


2,387 



A very careful and conservative estimate made by this office (under 
the administration of Hon. Lauren Dunlap), basing the gain in popula- 
tion, since the census of June, 1885, on the public land entries for the 
year, gave Dakota a population on June 30, 1886, of 500,000. Continuing 
these estimates on the same plan as that of the year past: 

The number of homestead and pre-emption filings during the year end- 
ing June 30, 1887, was 9,717, representing a population of three times'that 
number, or about 29,151 souls. 



EESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 

PULATION OF DAKOTA, 1887, COMPARED "WITH EACH STATE AND TERRITORY, 


173 

Census 1880. 


Rank. States. 


Population. 


48 INDIAN TER., 


47 WYOMING TER., % 


20,789 


46 IDAHO. 


32,610 


45 MONTANA. Hi 


39,159 


44 ARIZONA, HH 


40.44(1 


43 NEVADA. B^ 


02,266 


42 WASHINGTON TER., B|B 


75,116 


41 NKW MEXICO. BOB 


119,565 


40 VTA IE BBS 


148,963 


39 DELAWARE. BBBI 


146,608 


38 OREGON. BBBB 


174,768 


DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. WSSMBBk 


177,624 


COLORADO. BUffiffffB 


194,327 


35 FLORIDA. HBBBB 


269.493 


34 RH' DE ISLAND. BHBEPB 


276.531 


33 VERMONT. HBBS^PB 


332,286 


32 NEW HAMPSHIRE, BBS^H^B 


346.991 


31 N ERR A SKA. IBSPBBHB 


452,402 


30 DAKOTA, 1387, BBBBBGi 

29 WEST VIKGIXIA. IflBBSHSB 


600,000 

618,457 


2S CONNECTICUT. ||[WW'Bl[^g|j|Ullli 


622,700 


BHER^HSIrjBSSi 


648.936 


Minnesota. BBBBBBBH 


780.773 


25 ARKANSAS, : ^MIMM$M9BB£§JA 


802,525 


24 CALIFORNIA. BBBj^BBBBi 


864,694 


B99HBHBBB 
BHBB1BHHBI 


934,943 

"939.946 


Carolina. BEBBB^SBBSBI 


995.577 


kansas. BBBBKHiflBBBI 


996.096 


■^HHBBBBBBB 


1,131,116 


HHBHBHBBBH 
IT ALABAMA, RBHPBBBSS^SBB 
Wisconsin. HBBI^HBIBBBBBM 


1,131.597 
1.262,505 
1,315.497 


15 NORTH CAROLINA. ^RBBBBBBHBBS 


1,399.750 


u HBJBBBBBBHBBBI 


1,512,565 


Georgia, IBS9HBBHBHBHBI 


1,542,180 


Tennessee, HBBHBRSBHBBHIH 


1.542.359 


texas, IBBBBBBffBBHBBl 


1,591,749 


10 B9SBSBBBHBMIHBBII 


1,624.615 


BBBBBBHHHBBBBH 


1,636.937 


BBHMHBBBHBBBBBI 


1,648.690 


i HBBBBSHBHHBHBBBB 


1,783,085 


B^HBBH^BlHBHBHBHi 


1,978.301 


■SIHHBBBMBBMBflBI 
HBBBBIHHBHflHBHBMBHB 


2,168,380 
3,077,871 


SIQHHi^BBP^^HBflBBBBBi 


-.198,062 


penn., RpBHVHBBHBBHBBHBIIBH 


4.282,891 
5,082,871 







274 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

The 1,400 squatters on unsurveyed land represent a resident population 
of 3,500 persons. 

The gain in population from the sale of lands by the Northern Pacific 
railway company and private owners, may be estimated at 3,750, on the 
basis of a family of three to every 320 acres of land sold. 

The number of births during the same period is estimated at 17,500, the 
number of births for the year previous having been estimated at 15,000. 

The gain in population by the growth of the many hundred cities, 
towns and villages of the Territory — both the older ones and those newly 
established, which includes the increase in the number of laborers, 
miners, mechanics, business and professional men, is estimated to equal 
one-half of the settlers on the public domain for the year, or 14,576 souls. 
Therefore, the growth in population during the year amounts to 68,477, 
making the population of the Territory, (June 30, 1887,) very close to 
568,477. 

POPULATION. 



1860 




I 


4,837 


1870 




H 


14 181 


1880 




■ehsm 


135,177 


1885 
1887 






j 415,610 



Exclusive of Alaska, and deducting the area yet to be segregated for 
railroad and private land-claim grants, there remained in the United 
States, June 30, 1886, (as compiled from the annual reports of the Com- 
missioner of the General Land Office,) 573,344,605 acres of surveyed and 
unsurveyed lands — being the entire area of the public domain, good, bad, 
and indifferent, at the disposal of the Government. Of this total of 573,- 
000,000 acres remaining in the hands of the Government June 30, 1886,, 
probably not more than 100,000,000 acres were agricultural lands. The 
officials of the Government estimated the purely agricultural lands re- 
maining in the West, June 30, 1883, at only 5,000,000 acres; but this esti- 
mate was certainly too low. At the present rate of disposal, (more than 
20,000,000 acres per annum,) all the desirable lands owned by the Govern- 
ment will have disappeared within the next five years. A study of these 
figures must convince the observing that the time is rapidly approaching 
when the "public domain" and "free Government homes" will be an 
item of history only. 

The strangest part of this subject is the fact that so many of our own citi- 
zens living in the overcrowded cities and heavily burdened sections of the 
East, where to live means a continual struggle against adverse conditions, 
and the fear of poverty and want is a constant nightmare, instead of 
grasping at the rapidly vanishing opportunitj' of acquiring a home, and 
with it happiness and independence, are allowing a vast army of foreign- 
ers to rob them of their patrimony. 

The foreign immigration arriving at the city of New York alone, for the 
first six months of 1887 numbered 212,655 souls — exceeding the arrivals: 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 275 

for the same period of the preceding year by 65,000. Since 1880 this 
country has received nearly 4,000,000 emigrants, or about seven per cent, 
of our present total population. 

The majority of those now coming to America are Italians, Swedes, and 
Irish in the order named. Sixty per cent, of the emigrants are ticketed 
through to Western points, nearly all of whom become honest workers 
and excellent citizens. The remainder, or forty per cent., do not care to 
go West and, almost without exception, remain in the Eastern cities. In 
this way the great business centers are receiving constant additions to the 
already too large a population of agitators and fomenters of discord — the 
result of which is leading the public to a serious contemplation of the 
problems arising from a free and unrestricted foreign immigration. 

It is not at all improbable that Congress will be called upon at the ap- 
proaching session , to enact a law whereby every intending emigrant shall be 
compelled to exhibit to our consuls abroad satisfactory proof that he is an 
honest, law abiding citizen and is in possession of sufficient means to sup- 
port himself and family for at least a year. While the class of foreigners 
who come West are invariably of the better element, ranking in intelli- 
gence, sobriety, thrift, and observance of the law, with the best of our citi- 
zens, and therefore, Dakota has not those vital interests at stake that 
obtain in the East, yet, as people of one common Government, we cannot 
•do otherwise than uphold the justness of such steps as are necessary to 
stay this growth of ingratitude against a saving hand. 

VACANT LANDS. 

The entire area of Dakota amounts to 9(5, 59(5,480 acres. Of this 26,847,- 
105 acres are contained within Indian reservations; about 7,000,000 acres 
were granted by the Government to aid in the construction of the North- 
ern Pacific railroad; 3,000,000 acres are set aside for support of schools; 
and, according to careful computations made for this office from the rec- 
ords and plat-books of the several land districts, there had been disposed 
of, up to June 30, 1887, 35,937,930 acres under the general land laws — 
leaving a vacant area open to settlement, at this time (not deducting the 
small area of unsurveyed lands held by squatters), of 23,811,445 acres. 

The vacant public lands are distributed between the ten land districts of 
the Territory as follows: 

Aberdeen district 802,873 acres 

Bismarck district 14,281,600 acres 

Dead wood district 5,878,449 acres 

Devils Lake district 1,482,298 acres 

Fargo district 281,960 acres 

< irand Forks district 800,000 acres 

Huron district 157,040 acres 

Mitchell district 9,600 acres 

Watertown district 112,625 acres 

Yankton district 5,000 acres 



Total 23,811 ,445 acres 



276 



RE^OUKCES OF DAKOTA. 



The Bismarck land district contains by far the largest area of agricul- 
tural lands remaining A^acant in any one land district of the United States. 
*GOVEKNMENT LANDS ENTERED fbom 1875 to 1887. 




Duringthe pastsix years, over thirty-two millions of acres of Dakota lands 
have been entered under the provisions of the Government land laws — 
being an area greater than that of twenty-one of the states of the Union — 
(the list including New York, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, 
Indiana and Maine,) or equivalent to five New Hampshires, Vernionts, or 
Marylands, six Massachusetts, seven New Jerseys, ten Connecticuts, or 
twenty-five Datawares. 

Of the 415,610 inhabitants in Dakota, as shown by the Territorial census 
of 1885 — 1 50,990, or about one third , were born in foreign countries, of which 
over 33,000 were Canadians — 707 were colored, 191 Chinese and 647 Indian 
citizens. 

The immigration of this year is made up of the same class of sober, in- 
dustrious people, as in the past, the characteristics of whom as regards 
sobriety, thrift, and love of law and order have given the Territory a Na- 
tional reputation. They, as a geneial rule, are heads of families and in 
possession of sufficient means to at on.-e begin farming operations. 

The New England states, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Wis- 
consin, Iowa, and Illinois, are all supplying their contingent toward the 
building up of this, the strongest child of the Union; Canadians are cross- 
ing the International boundary line in such vast numbers as to have fairly 
startled that country — and the matter of loss of population, through emi- 
gration to Dakota, has become a subject of inquiry by the Provincial Gov- 
ernment. 



* Note.— This statement of the Government lands entered, is compiled fr. m the re- 
ports of the Commissioner of the General Land Office; is accurate, and, is valuable as 
showing the relative growth of the Territory, by seasons. Rut. it must be remembered 
that the actual area acquired by settlement will not agree with the total number of acres 
entered, as given above, for the reason that some entries are relinquished, contested 
and le-entered many times, before an absolute title obtains. This will explain the ap- 
parent discrepancy between the lotal number of acres entered, as stated here, and the 
actual number of acres acquired, as ascertained from the Laud Office records. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



277 



AREA ACQUIRED BY SETTLEMENT, IN DAKOTA, 

From 1S76 to 1881, inclusive, as compared with the total area of some of the l ates. 



Rank. States. 




Area, Acres 


23 ])] STRICT OF COLUMBIA 


1 


38,400 


2fc RHODE ISLAND, 


■ 


694,400 


31 DELAWARE, 


■ 


1,254,400 


20 CONNECTICUT, 


■■ 


3,100,800 


L9 MAY JERSEY, 


HH9 


4,771,200 


I s MASSACHUSETTS, 


■rh 


5,145,600 




5,763.200 



5,S46.40G 



6,310,400 



15.772,800 



18 MAINE, 



19.132.800 



12 SOUTH CAROLINA, 


WEBBSk 19,308,800 


SHSSHB 


■■■ 22,982,400 


KENTUCKY. ^H^^BHHHHH 


BH9H 25.600.000 


■■■■iHHI 


HHH 25,680.000 


■9HHHHHHS 


WE&MBBB8M 26,086,000 


HII^BRSSHHfiBI 


WBSRBBk 26.720,000 



PENNSYLVANIA 

5 LOUISIANA, 

4 MISSISSIPPI. 

••! NEW YORK, 

2 N. CAROLINA 

1~D A K OTA, 



S.790.400 




il))i c domain taken n 



I -32,0 00,000 

F six yea»rs from and 



* Area of the p 
including 1881. 

The emigration agents of the great railway corporations traversing the 
Northwest, estimate that fully 70,000 European emigrants, hailing 
from Scandinavia, Great Britain, and the German Empire, (including the 
Mennonites, who are of German extraction,) in the order named, will 
have been divided between Minnesota and Dakota during the present 
season. 

The farming lands of the Territory are passing into the hands of actual 
settlers at the rate of nearly 4,000,000 acres each year. As has been shown, 
the Government now has at its disposal but 23,811,445 acres of the 96,- 
596,480, comprising the entire area of the Territory, or about twenty-five 
per cent. He who can read the signs should profit thereby. You are 
offered to-day a free home on the finest lands in the gift of the Govern- 
ment — and with it all that the word "home" implies. To-day you are 
given the advantage of 24,000,000 acres from which to make your selection. 
Another year and the opportunity is forever past. 



278 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



MANUFACTORIES. 



An effort was made, by this office, to obtain a complete list of the manu- 
factories established in the Territory, which would show the varied in- 
terests covered, the amount of capital invested, etc., but it has been im- 
possible to get returns of the blanks sent out. So far as could be ascer- 
tained, there are in Dakota: twenty-nine brick-yards; sixteen brewer- 
ies; seven blank-book makers; six bottling- works; four boiler-shops; five 
broom-factories; twenty-six creameries; thirty-three cigar-factories; six 
cheese factories; one cornice-worts; one cracker factory; three coal 
mines; 114 flour-mills; thirty-two feevi-mills; eight flax and tow-mills; 
seven foundries; one grain separator manufactory; 582 grain elevators; 
three gas works; four marble works; seventeen ore-reducing works; five 
packing houses; three plow factories; five planing mills; two pop fac- 
tories; one plaster of Paris works; one paint factory; one stone polishing 
works; four sash and door factories; one spark-arrester manufactory; one 
shingle-mill; one soap works: twelve saw-mills; one shirt factory; 104 
wagon and carriage factories; five wood- working establishments; one 
woolen-mill and one vinegar works, representing a total capital invested 
of over $11,000,000. 

POST OFFICES. 



Dakota is credited, in the official reports of the Postmaster General, 
with a greater number of post-offices than either the state of Maryland, 
South Carolina, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Florida, or Louisiana; twice 
the number in either Vermont, New Hampshire, Oregon, Colorado, or 
Connecticut; eight times more than Nevada, Delaware, or Rhode 
Island, and more than in the territories of Alaska, Wyoming, Arizona, 
Idaho, New Mexico, and Utah combined. 

January 1, 1887, there were, in the Territory, seven postoffices of the 
second class, and thirty-nine offices of the third class — a number equal to, 
or exceeding, that in twenty-three states; 950 fourth class offices — or a 
greater number than in any one of fourteen states; and 134 money-order 
offices, which exceeds the record of twenty-four states. 

In three cities, viz.: Sioux Falls, Huron, and Fargo, the free delivery 
system has been established. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



279 



NUMBER OF POSTOFFICES IN DAKOTA, COMPARED WITH EACH STATE AND TERRITORY. 



Rank. States. 

49 ALASKA. 



48 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 



47 RHODE ISLAND. 



40 DELAWARE, 
4) WYOMING TER. 



87 WASHINGTON TEH. 



36 CONNECTICUT*, 



17 WISCONSIN, 
16 GEORGIA, 
15 ALABAMA 



14 IOWA, 

I \ MICHIGAN, 
12 KANSAS, 

II KENTUCKY 
10 TEXAS, 




NORTH CAROLINA 



o ILLINOIS 



Number 



120 



132 



135 



44 NEVADA, 


- B 


137 


43 ARIZONA, 


« 


141 


4:3 INDIAN TER., 


HB 


177 


41 IDAHO. 


■9 


204 


40 NEW MEXK 0, 


mH 


208 


39 IT A II. 


H9 


238 


38 MONTANA. 


■HI 


257 



406 




1.679 
1,760 



i,8-; 



1,.875 
1,924 



1,948 



2,085 



2,092 




1 PENN., 



4,050 



280 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



GOVERNMENT LANDS IN DAKOTA. 



the manner of proceeding to obtain title to public lands, undeb the 

pbe-emption, homestead, and other laws. 

(Compiled from a circular issued by the General Land Office, Washingtou.) 

Of agricultural public lands in Dakota, there are two classes — the one 
class at $1.25 per acre, which is designated as minimum, and the other at 
$2.50 per acre, or double minimum. The latter class consists of tracts em- 
braced within the even numbered sections of land reserved to the United 
States in the acts of Congress making grants of the odd-numbered sec- 
tions, extending forty miles on either side of the line of the Northern 
Pacific railroad, to aid in its construction through the Territory — such re- 
served sections being doubled in price. Title to public lands may be ac- 
quired by virtue of the pre-emption, homestead, timber-culture, and 
other land laws. 

Pre-emption. — The pre-emption privilege is restricted to heads of fami- 
lies, widows, or single persons, (male or female,) over the age of twenty- 
one, who are citizens of the United States, or who have declared their in- 
tentions to become citizens, as required by the naturalization laws; an 
actual inhabitant of the tract claimed ; and not the proprietor of 320 acres 
of land in any state or territory. 

A person who has removed from lands of his own to reside on public 
land, in the same state or territory, or who has previously exercised his 
pre-emption right, is not a qualified pre-emptor. 

All the vacant Government lands in Dakota are subject to pre-emption, 
the maximum amount of land that can be taken under this privilege being 
160 acres, for which the pre-emptor must pay the United States for the 
same $1.25 per acre, or, if the tract be within the limits of the Northern 
Pacific land grant, $2.50 per acre, at the times and places provided by law. 

Lands included in any reservation, or within the limits of an incorpor- 
ated town, or selected as the site of a city or town, or actually settled, and 
occupied for purposes of trade and business, and not for agriculture, or on 
which there are known salines or minerals, are not subject to pre-emption. 

The declaratory statement of the pre-emptor must be filed within three 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 281 

months from date of settlement, failing to file which, within the time pre- 
scribed, makes the land liable to the claim of an adverse settler, who does 
file notice of his intention at the proper time. The land-office fee for fil-' 
ing a declaratory statement is $2.00. 

When settlement is made on unsurveyed lands, no definite proceedings 
can be had as to the completion of the title until the surveys are extended 
over the land and officially returned to the district land offices. "Within 
three months after the date of the receipt at the district land office of the 
approved plat of the township embracing their claims, settlers are re- 
quired to file their declaratory statements with the register and, within 
thirty months from the expiration of said three months, to make proof and 
payment for the tract. 

Pre-emption filings may be relinquished by the claimants, in writing, 
filed with the register and receiver of the proper district land office, or 
the relinquishment may be executed by the claimant on the back of the 
declaratory statement receipt. 

A pre-emption filing can be made only by an actual settler on the 
land, a filing without settlement being illegal, no rights being acquired 
thereby. The existence of a pre-emption filing on a tract of land does 
not prevent another filing to be made of the same land, subject to any 
valid rights acquired by virtue of the former filing and actual settlement, 
if any. Proof and payment must be made within thirty-three months 
from date of settlement, and may be made at the expiration of six 
months of actual settlement and improvement. A failure to make proof 
and payment as prescribed by law, renders the land subject to appropria- 
tion by the first legal applicant, and the requirements of actual inhabi- 
tancy and improvement must be observed strictly. 

Failure to inhabit and improve the land in good faith, as required by 
law, renders the claim subject to contest and the entry to investigation 
and cancellation. 

Final proof in pre-emotion cases must be made to the satisfaction of 
the register and receiver, whose decision, as in other cases, is subject to 
examination and review by the General Land Office. 

The final affidavit must be made before the register or receiver, or be- 
fore the clerk of the court of record in the county, where the land is situ- 
ated. If in an unorganized county, the proof may be made in a similar 
manner, in an adjacent county of the Territory. The pre-emptor must ac- 
company his notice to make proof, with the names and residences of at 
least two witnesses, by whom the necessary facts as to settlement, resi- 
dence, and cultivation, etc., are to be established, and a deposit of sufficient 
money to pay the cost of publishing, when the register will publish such 
notice once each week, for a period of thirty days, in the newspaper pub- 
lished nearest the land in question. The pre-emptor is required to make 
oath that he has not previously exercised his pre-emptiom right; that he 
is not the owner of 820 acres of land; that he has not settled upon andim- 



282 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

proved the land to sell on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it 
to his own exclusive use; that he has not made any contract or agreement, 
directly or indirectly, in any way or manner, with any person whom- 
soever, by which the title he may acquire from the United States, shall 
inure in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except himself. 
Any person swearing falsely, forfeits all right to the land and to the jmrchase 
money paid, besides being liable to prosecution under the criminal laws of 
the United States. 

Homestead. — The homestead right, like a pre-emption, is limited, as the 
maximum quantity, to 160 acres of the public lands. To obtain a home- 
stead the party must, in connection with his application, make an affidavit 
before the register or receiver, that he is over the age of twenty- one, or 
the head of a family; that he is a citizen of the United States, or has de- 
clared his intention to become such; and that the entry is made for his 
exclusive use and benefit, and for actual settlement and cultivation: and 
must pay the legal fee, and that part of the commission which is payable 
when the entry is made. Where a wife has been divorced from, or de- 
serted by her husband, so that she is dependent on her own resources 
for support, if in iact the head of a family, she can make a homestead en- 
try as such. 

Upon faithful observance of the law, in regard to settlement and culti- 
vation, for the continuous term of five years, and at the expiration of that 
time, or within two years thereafter, upon proper proof to the satisfaction 
of the land officers, and payment to The receiver of that part of the com- 
mission remaining to be paid, the receiver issuing his receipt therefor, the 
register will issue his certificate, and make proper returns as a basis of a 
patent or complete title for the homestead. Upon the expiration of the 
time required by law for occupancy and cultivation, the party desiring to 
make final proof, must first file with the register of the proper land office, 
a written notice of his intention to do so. Such notice must describe the 
land claimed, and the claimant must give the names and residence of the 
witnesses by whom the necessary facts as to settlement, residence, culti- 
vation, etc., are to be established. 

If the homestead settler does not wish to remain five years on this tract, 
the law permits him to pay cash for it, ($2.50 per acre if within the North- 
ern Pacific railroad grant, and $1. 25 if outside,) upon making proof of settle- 
ment and cultivation, for a period of not less than six months from the 
date of entry to the time of payment. This is termed commuting a home- 
stead entry. 

A pre-emption settler may change his filing into a homestead, if he con- 
tinues, in good faith, to comply with the pre-emption laws until the change 
is effected, and the time he has resided on the land as a pre-emptor, will 
be credited upon the period of residence and cultivation required under 
the homestead laws. 

The land- office fees and commissions for a homestead entry payable 
when application is made, are as follows: 



RE80UKCES OF DAKOTA. 



For minimum land,being the land For double minimum land, being 

outside of any railroad grant. the land within the Northern 

Pacific railroad grrant. 



For 160acres,fees 114.00 For 100 acres, fees Sis. 00 

For SO acres, fees 7.00 For SO acres, fees 9.00 

For 40 acres, fees 0.00 For 40 acres, fees 7.00 



When a person desires to enter a tract of land, under the homestead 
law upon which he has not established a residence and made improve- 
ments, he must appear personally at the district land office and present 
his application, and must make the required affidavit before the register 
and receiver. 

He must then establish his actual residence (in a house) upon the 
land within six months from date of entry, and must reside upon the land 
continuously for the period prescribed by law. 

The homestead affidavit can be made before the clerk of the county 
court only in cases where the family of the applicant, or some member 
thereof, is actually residing on the land which he desires to enter, 
and on which he has made bona fide improvements, and settlement, and 
when he is prevented by reason of distance, bodily infirmity, or other 
good cause, from personal attendance at the district land office. 

In such cases the applicant must state in a supplemental affidavit the 
facts of such settlement, improvement, and residence; when acts of set- 
tlement have been performed, and when made; the nature, extent and 
value of the improvements; time such residence has been maintained, 
and the cause, specifically, why the applicant cannot appear at the loca 
office. 

A false oath taken before a clerk of a court is perjury, the same as if 
taken before the register or receiver. 

The period of actual inhabitancy, improvement, and cultivation required 
under the homestead law is five years. 

In case of the death of a homestead party, before making final proof, 
the widow succeeds co the homestead right. 

In case of the death of both father and mother, the right and fee inure 
to the minor children ; if any. 

A homestead right cannot be devised away from the widow or minor 
children. 

A homestead settler on unsurveyed public land not yet open to entry, 
must make entry within three months after the filing of the township 
plat of survey in the district land office. 

Homestead claims may be relinquished in the same manner as pre- 
emption claims. In case of the loss of the duplicate receipt an affidavit 
of such loss must accompany the written relinquishment. 

Soldiers' Homesteads. — A Union soldier or sailor of the late war is enti- 
tled to a deduction from the five years of the length of time, (not exceed- 



284 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

ing four years,) of his military service. But the soldier, (or his widow, as 
the case may be,) must actually reside on the land at least one year be- 
fore final proof can be made. 

In the case of the death of the soldier, and the death or re-marriage of 
the widow, the minor children of the soldier, by a duly appointed guard- 
ian, are entitled to the privileges of the father. 

Neither the guardian nor the minor children are required to reside upon 
the land, but the same must be cultivated and improved for the period 
of time during which the father would have been required to reside upon 
the tract. 

The soldier may file a declaratory statement for a tract of land which he 
intends to enter under the homestead laws. The fee is $2.00. 

This statement may be filed either personally or by an agent, and the 
soldier is thereafter allowed six months within which to make his entry, 
and commence his settlement and improvements. The entry can be made 
only by the soldier in person, at the local land office, and he must com- 
mence his settlement on the land within six months after his filing, and 
must continue to reside on the land and cultivate it for such a period as, 
added to his military service, will make five years. But he must actually 
reside upon the land at least one year, whatever may have been the 
period of his military service. 

Entries cannot be made for a soldier by an agent or attorney. 

After a declaratory statement has once been filed, whether by an agent 
or otherwise, the soldier cannot file again. His rights are exhausted by 
the first filing, and if he does not, within six months, make his personal 
entry at the land office, and commence his settlement as required bylaw, 
he obtains no right to the land. A soldier's homestead declaratory state- 
ment for a tract of land does not prevent anybody else from making an 
entry of the same land, subject to such right as the soldier may acquire 
by virtue of actual residence on the land and full compliance with the law. 
If the soldier does not establish his residence on the tract as required, 
the next comer may take the land. Soldiers are not entitled to land, or 
to bounty land warrants, for their military services in the late war; nor 
can title to land be obtained for them by agents or attorneys. All repre- 
sentations to the contrary are false, and soldiers and sailors are warned 
against imposition by parties who offer to locate land for them, or to sell 
their rights. 

Final Proof. — A settler desiring to make final proof on his homestead, 
must file with the register of the proper land office, a written notice, in 
the prescribed form, of his intention so to do, which notice will be pub- 
lished by the register in a newspaper to be by him designated, nearest 
the land office, once a week for six weeks, at the applicant's expense. 

Applicants should commence to make their proofs in sufficient time, so 
that the same may be completed and filed in the local office within the 
statutory period of seven years from date of entry. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 285 

The final affidavits and proof should be made before the register or re- 
ceiver, but may be made before the judge, or in his absence, before the 
clerk of a court of record in the county and district of the Territory ;n 
which the land is situated. If in an unorganized county, the proof may 
be made in a similar manner in any adjacent organized county. When 
proof is made before the county officers mentioned, the same must be 
transmitted by the judge or clerk of the court to the register and receiver, 
together with the same fees and commissions that the land officers would 
have been entitled to receive if the proof had been made before them, 
and the testimony reduced to writing by them. 

The land office commissions for the homestead entry, payable at time 
of making final proof, are as follows : 



For minimum land, being land out- j For double minimum land, being 
side of any railroad grant. the land within the Northern 

Pacific railroad grant. 



For 160 acres, fees $4.00 For 160 acres, fees $8.00 

For 80 acres, fees 2.00 j For 80 acres, fees 4.00 

For 40 acres, fees 1.00 For 40 acres, fees... 2.00 

The fee for reducing testimony to writing, in making final proof in Da- 
kota, is fifteen cents for each 100 words. No other land office fees than 
those stated are payable or allowable in homestead cases. 

Commuted Homesteads.— Homestead entries can be commuted to cash 
only after actual inhabitancy of the land by the homestead party, and his 
improvement and cultivation of it, for a period of not less than six 
months. 

A person who commutes a homestead entry cannot move from that tract 
and settle upon other public land in the Territory as a pre-emptor. 

Proof of settlement and cultivation for the prescribed period, must be 
male in the same manner as in pre-emption cases. 

A person commuting a homestead entry when he has not actually re- 
sided upon the land, and improved and cultivated it, as required by law, 
forfeits all right to the land and to the purchase money paid, and in ad- 
dition thereto, renders himself liable to criminal prosecution. 

Hie Timber Culture Act. — A timber culture applicant is required to make 
oath that his entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and for his own 
exclusive use and benefit; that he makes the application in good faith, 
and not for the purpose of speculation, nor directly or indirectly for the 
use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; and that he 
intends to hold and cultivate the land, and to wholly comply with the pro- 
visions of the act. 

Claimants under the timber culture act will be held to strict compliance 
with the terms and conditions of the law. 

Not more than one-quarter of any one section can be entered under this 
act. 



286 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Where 160 acres are taken, at least five acres must be plowed within 
one year from the date of entry. The following or second year, said five 
acres must be actually cultivated .to crop or otherwise, and another five, 
acres must be plowed. The third year, the first five acres must be planted 
to trees, tree seeds or cuttings, and the second five acres actually culti- 
vated to crop or otherwise. The fourth year the second five acres must 
be planted to trees, tree seeds or cuttings, making, at the end of the 
fourth year, ten acres thus planted to trees. 

Perfect good faith must at all times be shown by claimants. Trees 
must not only be planted, but they must be protected and cultivated in 
such manner as to promote their growth. 

Final proof may be made at the expiration of eight years from date of 
entry. It must be shown that for the said eight years the trees have 
been planted, protected and cultivated as aforesaid; that not less than 
2,700 trees were planted on each of the ten acres, and that at the time of 
making proof there are growing at least 675 living, thrifty trees to each 
acre or 6,750 in all. 

Where less than one quarter-section of land is entered the same pro- 
portionate amount of plowing, planting and cultivation of trees must be 
done as required in entries of 160 acres. 

If the trees, seeds, or cuttings are destroyed in any one year, they must 
be replanted. A party will not be released from a continual attempt to 
promote the actual growth of timber or forest trees. A failure in this re- 
spect will subject the entry to cancellation. 

Only an applicant for the land under the timber culture or homestead 
laws, can institute a contest under the third section of the act of 1878. 

Contestants have a preference right of thirty days after cancellation in 
which to make entry of the land. 

The Government will, at any period, upon proper application to contest, 
or upon its own information, investigate alleged fraudulent or illegal tim- 
ber culture entries, or alleged failure to comply with the law after entry, 
and such entries will be canceled upon sufficient proof, either of illegality 
or failure to comply with the law. 

The character of the trees should be such as are recognized in the 
neighborhood as of value for timber, or for commercial purposes, or for 
firewood and domestic use. In all cases under this act, it is required that 
trees shall be cultivated, which shall come within the term timber, as de- 
fined above; the cultivation of shrubbery and fruit trees not being suffi- 
cient. 

The local land office fee for a timber culture entry of more than eighty 
acres, is §14.00; for eighty acres or less, $9.00. 

Relinquishment. — When a pre-emption, homestead, or timber culture 
claimant, has filed a written relinquishment of his claim in the land office, 
the land covered by such claim is held as open to settlement and enfay 
without further action on the part of the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 287 

A settler can obtain 1(50 acres under each one of the laws named; — 480 
acres in all. He cannot obtain all of these claims at once,, because the 
conditions under which he acquires the pre-emption and homestead 
claims require his actual settlement upon them, and it is, of course, impos- 
sible to live in more than one place at a time. Applications may be filed 
for pre-emption and a timber culture tract at once, as the latter does not 
require actual residence; then, -after six months, he may pay in full for 
his pre-emption, and immediately take and occupy a homestead. 
Occasional temporary absence from a homestead or pre-emption will not 
imperil the claims, if the fact of urgent necessity is established when proof 
is made. 

Settlers are permitted to take from vacant public lands, the timber nec- 
essary for ordinary improvements on their claims, and wood to be used 
for their own domestic purposes. This permission does not cover wood 
or timber taken for sale or speculation. 



There's room enough in Dakota for a few million more good, honest, 
hard-working tillers of the soil, and a cordial hand of welcome is out- 
stretched to greet the new comer who accepts the invitation to share in 
our prosperity. 

Dakota contains 90, 590,480 acres— being larger than any state or territory 
in the Union, if we except Texas and California. Including the Indian 
reservations, 50,058,550 acres remain unoccupied. This area would furnish 
farms of 100 acres each, to more than 300,000 families, or two million souls. 



2SS 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



GOVERNMENT SURVEYS. 



EXPLANATION OF THE METHOD OF MARKING LAND BY CORNER POSTS, CORNER 

STONES, ETC. 

The public lands are surveyed into townships, six miles square, arid 
each township is sub-divided into thirty-six sections, containing (except* 
ing the tier of sections on the. northern and western boundaries,) exactly 
640 acres. The sections on the north and west boundaries of a township 
are fractional, containing sometimes more, sometimes less than 640 acres, 
and the subdivisions of these fractional sections are designated lots,*and 
are numbered in each section from one upward. A township contains 
about 23,040 acres of land. 

The sections in each township are numbered, beginning at the north- 
east corner, from one to thirty-six inclusive, as shown on the diagram of 
a township plat below. 

Sections sixteen and thirty-six of every township in the Territory, are 
reserved for school purposes, and are not subject to entry. Each section 
of land is subdivided into four quarter-sections, containing 100 acres, and 
each quarter is designated either the northeast, southeast, northwest, or 
southwest quarter, as it indicates one of the points of the compass named. 
These quarter-sections are again subdivided, in the manner just described, 
into sixteenths of a section, containing forty acres each. 

See section nine of the diagram, below. 



A TOWNSHIP. 

North 



G 


'' 


4 
ii w ne 


« 


2 


1 


7 


8 


SV9 SO 


10 


11 


12 


18 


17 


16 


15 


11 


18 


10 


20 


2] 


22 


28 


24 


SO 


29 


28 


27 


26 


25 


31 


82 


33 


34 • 


85 


36 



South 



Townships are num- 
bered as they are north' 
or south of a base line, 
and east or west of a 
principal meridian. For 
instance, 3 S, means a 
third township south of 
the base line, while 6 N, 
would indicate a sixth 
township north, and so 
on. 7W, means a town- 
ship in the seventh tier 
of townships west of the 
principal meridian, while 
19 E, would refer to the 
nineteenth tier of town- 
ships east. etc. The 



RESOURCESOF DAKOTA. 28 

Governrnenl surveys in Dakota are, (except lands'in the Black Hills,) 
numbered in townships from 89 to L64 inclusive, north from a hast; line 
surveyed through the Washita mountains, about six miles south of Little 
Rock, Arkansas, and in ranges from 47 to 107 inclusive, west of the 5th 
principal meridian, which passes over the western part of the state of 
Wisconsin. 

In the Black Hills the townships are numbered as] lying north or south 
of the Black Hills base line, and in ranges east, of the^Black Hills me- 
ridian. 

The following extracts from (lie Manual published by (Ik; Government 
for the instruction of surveyors of public lands, illustrate the manner of 
designating corners by posts, stones, etc. 

Where a township post is a corner common to four townships, it is to be 
set in the earth diagonally, thus: 

On each surface of the post is to be 

marked the number of the particular 

township and its range, which it faces. 

Thus, if the post be a common boun- 

to four townships, say 1 and 

south of the base line, of range 

of the meridian; also, to 



V 



N 



Post. 

[] 



«<>: 
& 



„dary 



West 



r 



townships 1 and 2, south of 
base line, of range 2, west of 
meridian, it is to be marked thus: 



the 
the 



From N. to E 



FromN. to \V 



From E. 



; "' ;; -F'i 



s 
n. i w 

S. 31 

2 W. ) f2W. . 

1 S. From W. to H.\ 2 S. } 
36 J (l J 

These marks are not only to be distinctly, but neatly cut into the weed 
st the eighth of an inch deep; and to make them yet more conspicu- 
ous to the eye of the anxious explorer, the deputy must apply to all of 
them a streak of red chalk. 

Section, or mile-posts, being corners of sections, and where such are 
common to four sections, are to be set diagonally in the earth (in the 
manner provided for township corner posts,) and on each side of the 
squared surfaces (made smooth, as aforesaid, to receive the mark,) is to 
be marked the appropriate number of the particular one of the four sec- 
tions, respectively, which such side faces; also, on one side thereof are to 
be marked the numbers of town ship and 
range; and to make such marks yet more 
conspicuous in manner aforesaid, a 
streak of red chalk is to be applied. 
Opposite is represented a corner 



Pit. 



mound common to two townships or \y 

two sections only. 

In every township, subdivided into 
thirty-six sections, there are twenty- 
five interior section coiners, each of 
which will be common to four sections. 



Post. 
[] 



Pit. 



/•; 



(10) 



290 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

A quarter section, or half-mile post, is to have no other mark on it than 
£ S., to indicate what it stands for. 

Township corner posts, common to four townships, are to be notched 
with six notches on each of the four angles of the squared part set to the 
cardinal points. 

All mile posts on township lines must have as many notches on them, 
on two opposite angles thereof, as they are miles distant from the town- 
ship corners, respectively. .Each of the posts at the corners of sections in 
the interior of a township must indicate by a number of notches on each 
of its four corners directed to the cardinal points, the corresponding num- 
ber of miles that it stands from the outlines of the township (a). The 
four sides of the post will indicate .the number of the section they respec- 
tively face. 

Where it is deemed best to use stones for boundaries, in lieu of posts, 
surveyors may, at any corner, insert endwise into the ground, to the 
depth of seven or eight inches, a stone, the number of cubic inches in 
which shall not be less than the number contained in a stone fourteen 
inches long, twelve inches wide, and three inches thick — equal to 504 
cubic inches — the edges of w T hich must be set north and south, on north 
and south lines, and east and west, on east and west lines; the dimensions 
of each stone to be given in the field-notes at the time of establishing the 
corner. The kind of stone should also be stated. 

MARKING CORNER STONES. 

Stones at township corners, common to four townships, must have six 
notches, cut with a pick or chisel on each edge or side toward the car- 
dinal points; and w-here used as section corners on the range and town- 
ship lines, or as section corners in the interior of a township, they will 
also be notched, to correspond with the directons given for notching 
posts similarly situated. 

Posts or stones at township corners on the base and standard lines, and 
which are common to two townships on the north side thereof, will have 
six notches on each of the west, north, and east sides or edges; and where 
such stones or posts are set for corners to two townships south of the base 
or standard, six notches will be cut on each of the west, south, and east 
sides or edges. 

Stones, when used for quarter section corners, will have £ cut on them — 
on the west side on north and south lines, and on the north side on east 
and west lines. 



(o) Only on two edges, in surveys made since 1864. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 291 



LAND DISTRICTS. 



The Territory is divided into ten land districts, the boundaries of which 
are shown on the land-district maps issued by this office. These maps are 
mailed, free, to any address, on receipt of application. 

The location of land offices, the names of registers and receivers, and the 
number of acres remaining vacant in each district, on the first of June, 
18S7, as ascertained from the records and plat-books on file in the 
various offices, are given below: 

ABERDEEN LAND DISTRICT. 

Office at Aberdeen, Brown county; N. H. Harris, register; L. A. Burke, 
receiver. 

Counties. Acres. I Counties. Acres. 

Walworth 111,210 | Dickey 19,840 

Edmunds 104,940 j Mcintosh 77,124 

Campbell 146,880 | Emmons 57.580 

ivicPherson 285,209 | 

Total 802,873 

BISMARCK LAND DISTRICT. 

Office at Bismarck, Burleigh county; John A. Rea, register; D. W. 
Hutchinson, receiver. 

Counties. Acres. Counties. Acres. 

Mcintosh 213,760 McLean 112,040 

Emmons 31 r ercer ] 

Logan 202,240 Dunn 

Morton 768,000 McKenzie 368,640 

Hettinger 614,400 Stevens 052,800 

Bowman 337,620 Ward 701,000 

Billings 1,240.000 Renville 1.0-14,480 

Stark - fountraille 

Oliver 174,080 Flannery 1,305 GOO 

Burleigh 284,320 Buford.. 934,400 

Kidder 256,000 Wvnn* 363,640 

Stutsman 215,040 Allred '326,400 

Wells 2 McHenry 2 

Sheridan 348,100 Williams 337,920 

Wallace 164,320 

Total 14,281,600 

*Note. — Formerly Wynn county; now divided between Renville, Bot- 
tineau and McHenry counties. 

Much of the public land in the Bismarck district is still unsurveyed. 



292 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



DEADWOOD LAND DISTRICT. 

Office at Deadwood, Lawrence county; J. R. Whiteside, register; John 
LaFabre, receiver. 



Counties. 
Fall River... 

Custer 

Pennington 

Lawrence... 

Total.... 



Acres. 
968,000 
911,920 
721 ,982 
765,471 



Counties. 

Butte 

Harding 

Burdick .... 
Ewing 



Acres. 
621,076 
630,000 
630,000 
630,000 
5,878,449 



Of the above. 5 oi9.ooo a n r n S p-p 



ivvpvpd, 



»e^ 



ot -Dakota 9QsQe 




DEVILS LAKE LAND DISTRICT. 



Office at Devils Lake, Ramsey county; 

Smith, receiver. 

Counties. Acres. 

Eddy 42,240 

Wells 150,560 

Benson 133,320 

McHenry 277,698 

Bottineau 12,320 



H. W. Lord, register; S. S. 



Counties. Acres. 

Rolette 249,600 

Towner , 236,400 

Church ; 22,400 

Pierce 312,560 

Ramsey 45,200 



Total .- 1,482,298 



RESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 293 

There remains a large area of unsurveyed land in the Devils Lake dis- 
trict. 

FARGO LAND DISTRICT. 

Office at Fargo, Cass county; M. F. Battelle, register; Frank S. DeMers, 
receiver. 



Counties 

Dickey 

Sargent .... 
Richland- 
Ransom 



Foster 50,440 

Eddy 35.240 

: 281 i960 



Acres. Counties. • Acres. 

70,8SO Barnes 3,680 

5,520 Stutsman 42,560 

13.640 Griggs 6,080 

13,120 

LaMoure 40,800 

Total 

GRAND FORKS LAND DISTRICT. 

Office at Grand Forks, Grand Forks county; B. C. Tiffany, register 
J. Anderson, receiver. 

Acres. 
25,000 
25,000 
64,000 



W. 



Counties. 

Cavalier 

Ramsey 

Not in any county 



Counties. 

Eddy 

Nelson 

Walsh 

Total 

Of the above amount, about 440,000 acres are unsurveyed lands. 

IIURON LAND DISTRICT. 

J. S. McFarland, register; E. W. Miller 



Acres. 
332,000 
194.000 
160,000 
800,00? 



Office at Huron, Beadle county: 



Acres. 

4.S00 

22,320 

20,480 I 



Counties. 

Hand 

Sully 

Spink 



Acres. 
16,480 

12,320 
960 



receiver. 

Counties. 

Hughes ■ 

Potter 

Hyde 

Faulk 

Total Io7,040 

.MITCHELL LAND DISTRICT. 

Office at Mitchell, Davison county; Geo. B. Eyeritt, register; Theodore 
Singiser, receiver. 



County 
Brule .. 



Acres. 
9,600 



WATERTOWN LAND DISTRICT. 

Office at Watertown, Codington county; M. W. 
Bramble, receiver. 

Counties. Acres. 

Marshall 16,680 

Roberts 2,230 

Day 34,160 

Grant 9,900 

Codington 

Clark 



Sheafe, register; D. T. 



21,480 



Counties. Acres. 

Hamlin 2,840 

Deuel 4,440 

Kingsbury 1,550 

Brookings 1,865 

Sargent... 4,820 

Richland 6,400 

Total:.... • 112,625 

YANKTON LAND DISTRICT. 

Office at Yankton, Yankton county; Hughes East, register; F. M. Zie- 
bach, receiver. 

Count v. Acres. 

Charles Mix 0,000 

Grand total vacant public lands, June 1, 1887, 23,811,445 acres. 



294 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



EXEMPTIONS. 



Under the laws of the Territory, the property "mentioned below is abso- 
lutely exempt from attachment, levy, and sale on execution. 

First. All family pictures. 

Second. A pew or other sitting in any house of worship. 

Third. A lot or lots in any burial ground. 

Fourth. The family Bible, and all school books used by the family, 
and all other books used as a part of the family library, not exceeding in 
value one hundred dollars. 

Fifth, xill wearing apparel and clothing of the debtor and his family. 

Sixth. The provisions for the debtor and his family, necessary for one 
year's supply, either provided or growing, or both, and fuel necessary for 
one year. 

Seventh. The homestead, (which must not exceed one acre"_if within a 
town plat, and 160 acres if not,) as created and denned by law. 

In addition to the property mentioned in the preceding" section, the 
debtor may, by himself or his agent, select from all other of his personal 
property, not absolutely exempt, goods, chattels, merchandise, money, or 
other personal property, not to exceed in the aggregate fifteen hundred 
dollars in value, which is also exempt, and must be chosen and appraised 
as provided by law. 

Instead of the exemption granted as last above explained, the debtor 
may select and choose the following property, jwbich shall then be ex- 
empt, namely: 

First. All miscellaneous books and musical instruments for the use of 
the family, not exceeding five hundred dollars in value. 

Second. All household and kitchen furniture, including beds, bedsteads 
and bedding used by the debtor and his family, not exceeding five hun- 
dred dollars in value. And in case the debtor shall own more than five 
hundred dollars' worth of such property, he must select therefrom such 
articles to the value of five hundred dollars, leaving the remainder sub- 
ject to legal process. 

Third. Three cows, ten swine, one yoke of cattle, and two horses or 






RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 295 

mules, or two yoke of cattle, or two span of horses or mules, one hundred 
sheep, and their lambs under six months old, and all wool of the same, 
and all cloth or yarn manufactured therefrom, the necessary food for the 
animals hereinbefore mentioned for one year, either provided or grow- 
ing, or both, as the debtor may choose, also one wagon, one sleigh, two 
plows, one harrow, and farming utensils, including tackle for teams, 
not exceeding three hundred dollars in value. 

Fourth. The tools and implements of any mechanic, whether a minor 
or of age, used and kept for the purpose of carrying on his trade or busi- 
ness, and, in addition thereto, stock in trade not exceeding two hundred 
dollars in value. The library and instruments of any professional person, 
not exceeding six hundred dollars in value. 

EXE.MTT FROM TAXATION. 

The following classes of property are exempt from taxation: 

First. The property of the United States and of this Territory, includ- 
ing school lands. 

Second. The property of a county, incorporated city or village, or school 
district, when devoted to public use, and not held or used for pecuniary 
profit. 

Third. Public grounds, by whomsoever devoted to the public use, and 
including all places set apart for the burial of the dead. 

Fourth. The engine and implements used for the extinguishing of fires, 
with the grounds used exclusively for their buildings, and for the meet- 
ings of tire companies. 

Fifth. The grounds and buildings of library, scientific, educational, 
benevolent, and religious institutions, colleges or, societies devoted solely 
to the appropriate object of those institutions, not exceeding ten acres in 
extent, and not leased or otherwise used with a view to pecuniary profit. 

Sixth. The books, papers, furniture, scientific, or other apparatus, per- 
taining to the above institutions, and used solely for the purpose above 
contemplated, and the like property of students in any such institutions, 
used for the purpose of their education. 

Seventh. Moneys and credits belonging exclusively to such institutions, 
and devoted solely to sustaining them, but not to exceed in amount of 
total valuation, aside from the property of students, as above mentioned, 
the sum prescribed in their charter or act of incorporation. 

Eighth. All animals, except horses, neat cattle, mules and asses, sheep 
and swine. 

Ninth. Private libraries, not exceeding £100 in value. 

Tenth. Family pictures. 

Eleventh. The household furniture of each family, together with the 
beds and bedding thereof, and all wearing apparel of every person and 
family, actually used for wearing, not to exceed in valuation §200. 

Twelfth. All food and fuel, provided in kind, not to exceed provision 
for one year's time; provided, that no person from whom a compensation 



296 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

for board or lodging is received, or expected, shall be considered a mem- 
ber of a family within the intent and meaning of this chapter. 

Thirteen tit. The polls, or estates, or both, of persons who, by reason of 
age or infirmity, may, in the judgment of the assessor, be unable to con- 
tribute to the public charge, such opinion being subject to revision by the 
county board of equalization. 

Fourteenth. Any one-fourth part of any quarter-section of prairie land, 
the same being a legal sub-division, on which five acres of timber shall 
be planted, either by sowing seed or by setting trees or cuttings, and the 
same to be kept in growing order, by cultivation, and not to be more than 
twelve feet apart each way, together with all improvements thereon, not 
to exceed in value $1,000, and for a period of ten years from and after the 
planting of said timber; and any change of ownership of such land shall 
in no way, affect the exemption from taxation as herein provided: Pro- 
vided, however, that no person shall derive any of the benefits as set forth 
in sub-division fourteen, section two, of chapter twenty-eight, of the 
political code, until such person shall file an affidavit with the assessor 
that he has in every way complied with the requirements of the law made 
and provided in such cases, whereupon the assessor shall make a note of 
the facts in his list, and shall therein state in effect the following words, 
to-wit: " Exempt from taxation by virtue of tree culture," and shall de- 
scribe the particular tractor tracts of land so exempt. 

Fifteenth. All improvements made on real property, by setting out either 
forest or fruit trees, shrubbery or vineyards, which shall not be consid- 
ered as increasing the value of the land for purposes of taxation. 

Sixteenth. All pensions from the United States, or from any of the states 
of the Union. 

S. rcnieenth. The polls of all active members in good standing of any reg- 
ularly organized fire company, not exceeding thirty in number, in cities 
or towns of more than 500 inhabitants, and not exceeding fifteen in num- 
ber in towns or cities of less than 500 inhabitants; provided, that such fire 
company, actually and in good faith, possess apparatus for the extinguish- 
ment of fires, exceeding $250 in value, to be determined by the assessor of 
the proper county. 

Eighteenth. All breaking and plowing on Government land. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 297 



EXTRACTS FROM THE REVISED STATUTES OP THE 
UNITED STATES. 



No corporation or association for religious or charitable purposes can 
acquire or hold real estate in Dakota during the existence of the Territor- 
ial Government, of a greater value than fifty thousand dollars. — [Section 
1890 Revised Statutes.] 

All religious societies, sects and congregations have the right to hold 
through trustees, appointed by any court exercising probate powers in the 
Territory, only on the nomination of the authorities of such society, sect 
or congregation, so much real property for the erection or use of houses 
of worship, and for such parsonages and burial grounds as shall be neces- 
sary for the convenience and use of the several congregations of such re- 
ligious society, sect or congregation. [Act approved March 3, 1887.] 

It is unlawful for any person or persons, not citizens of the United 
States, or who have not lawfully declared their intention to become such 
citizens, or for any corporation not created by or under the laws of the 
United States, or of some state or territory of the United States, to here- 
after acquire, hold, or own real estate, so hereafter acquired, or any in- 
terest therein, in Dakota, (during the existence of the Territorial Govern- 
ment,) except such as may be acquired by inheritance, or in good faith in 
the ordinary course of justice in the collection of debts heretofore created. 

No corporation or association, more than twenty per centum of the 
stock of which is or may be owned by any person or persons, corporation 
or corporations, association or associations, not citizens of the United 
States, can hereafter acquire, or hold or own any real estate, hereafter ac- 
quired, in Dakota, during the existencs of the Territorial Government. 

No corporation other than those organized for the construction or op- 
eration of railways, canals, or turnpikes, can acquire, hold or own more 
than five thousand acres of land, in Dakota, during the existence of the 
Territorial Government; and a railroad, canal and turnpike corporation 
is restricted to the possession of only such lands as may be necessary 
for the proper exercise of its franchise, and the lands which may have 
been granted to it by an act of Congress. 



298 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

This prohibition does not apply to any lands now lawfully held by any 
corporation. [Act approved March 3, 1887.] 

All inclosures of any public lands, in Dakota, heretofore or hereafter 
made, erected or constructed by any person, party, association or corpor- 
ation, to any of which land included within the inclosure, the person, 
party, association, or corporation making or controlling the inclosure, had 
no claim or color of title, made or acquired in good faith, with a view to 
entry thereof at the proper land office, under the general laws of the 
United States, at the time any such inclosure was or shall be made, are 
declared to be unlawful, and the maintenance, erection, construction, or 
control of any such inclosure is forbidden and prohibited. [Act approved 
February 25, 1885.] 

The Legislature of Dakota shall not pass local or special laws in any of 
the following enumerated cases, that is to say: 

Granting divorces. 

Changing the names of persons or places. 

Laying out, opening, altering, and working roads or highways. 

Vacating roads, town-plats, streets, allej^s, and public grounds. 

Locating or changing county seats. 

Regulating county and township affairs. 

Regulating the practice in courts of justice. 

Regulating the jurisdiction and duties of justices of the peace, police 
magistrates, and constables. 

Providing for changes of venue in civil and criminal cases. 

Incorporating cities, towns, or villages, or changing or amending the 
charter of any town, city, or village. 

For the punishment of crimes or misdemeanors. 

For the assessment and collection of taxes for Territorial, county, town- 
ship, or road purposes. 

Summoning- and impaneling grand or petit jurors. 

Providing for tne management of common schools. 

Regulating the rate of interest on money. 

The opening and conducting of any election, or designating the place of 
voting. 

The sale or mortgage of real estate belonging to minors or others under 
disability. 

The protection of game or fish. 

Chartering or licensing ferries or toll bridges. 

Remitting fines, penalties, or forfeitures. 

Creating, increasing, or decreasing fees, percentage, or allowances of 
public officers during the term for which said officers are elected or ap- 
pointed. 

Changing the law of descent. 

Granting to any corporation, association, or individual the right to lay 
down railroad track, or amending existing charters for such purpose. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 290 

Granting to any corporation, association, or individual, any special or 
exclusive privilege, immunity, or franchise whatever. 

Neither the Territory, nor any political or municipal corporation or sub- 
division of the Territory, shall make any subscription to the capital stock 
of any incorporated company, or company or association having corporate 
powers, or in any manner loan its credit to, or use it for the benefit of any 
such company or association, or borrow any money for the use of any such 
company or association. 

No law of the Territorial Legislature shall authorize any debt to be con- 
tracted by or on behalf of the Territory, except in the following cases: 

To meet a casual deficit in the revenues, to pay the interest upon the 
Territorial debt, to suppress iusurrections, or to provide for the public de- 
fense, except that in addition to any indebtedness created for such pur- 
poseg, the Legislature may authorize a loan for the erection of penal, 
charitable or educational institutions for the Territory, if the total indebt- 
edness of the Territory is not thereby made to exceed one per centum 
upon the assessed value of the taxable property, as shown by the last gen- 
eral assessment for taxation. And nothing in this act shall be construed 
to prohibit the refunding of any existing indebtedness of the Territory, 
or of any political or municipal corporation, county, or other sub- division 
therein. 

No political or municipal corporation, county, or other sub-division in the 
Territory shall become indebted in any manner, or for any purpose to any 
amount in the aggregate, including existing indebtedness, exceeding four 
per centum on the value of the taxable property within such corporation, 
county, or sub-division, to be ascertained by the last assessment for Terri- 
torial and county taxes previous to the incurring of such indebtedness; 
and all bonds or obligations in excess of such amount, given by such cor- 
poration, shall be void: That nothing is this act contained shall be so 
construed as to affect the validity of any act of the Territorial Legislature 
heretofore enacted, or of any obligations existing or contracted thereun- 
der, nor to preclude the issuing of bonds already contracted for in pur- 
suance of express provisions of law; nor to prevent the Territorial Legis- 
lature from legalizing the acts of any county, municipal corporation, or 
sub-division of the Territory as to any bonds heretofore issued or con- 
tracted to be issued. 

The Legislative assembly of the Territory shall not grant private charters 
or special piivileges, but may, by general incorporation acts, per- 
mit persons to associate themselves together as bodies corporate for min- 
ing, manufacturing, and other industrial pursuits, and for conducting the 
business of insurance, banks of discount and deposit, (but not of issue,) 
loan, trust, and guarantee associations, and for the construction or opera- 
tion of railroads, wagon roads, irrigating ditches, and the colonization and 
improvements of lands in connection therewith, or for colleges, semina- 
ries, churches, libraries, or any other benevolent, charitable or scientific 
association. 

The Congress may annul any law passed by the Territorial Legislature. 

[Act approved July 20, 188G.] 



300 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



DAKOTA BANKING INSTITUTIONS. 



INCLUDING SOME HISTORICAL SKETCHES, AND A SUMMARY OP THE COMMERCIAL 
LAW OP THE TERRITORY. 

In 1869 Dakota had one bank with a capital of $1,000. 

In 1878 there were eleven banking institutions in the Territory, having 
an united capital of $70,000, which was an increase in eight years of about 
7,000 per cent, in the capital thus employed. 

Of these eleven banks, ten were private banks, and one national; four 
were located in the Black Hills, one in north Dakota and six in south Da- 
kota, including the only national bank in existenee,at that time, viz.: the 
First National bank of Yankton. 

In 1880 the number of banks in Dakota, had increased to twenty-four, 
and the capital employed, (including surplus fund,) to $513,579, an in- 
crease in two years of 120 per cent! in the number of banking institutions, 
and of over 600 per cent, in the capital invested. 

Of these twenty-four banks, nine private and two national banks were 
located in southern Dakota; seven private and two national banks were 
in northern Dakota, and two private and two national banks in the Black 
Hills. 

In 1885 the Territory had 195 banks with a combined capital and surplus 
of $5,106,359, an increase in five years of more than 700 per cent, in the 
number, and of nearly 900 per cent, in the amount of capital employed. 

In July, 1887, Dakota had 299 banking institutions, classified as follows: 

No. Capital. Surplus. Total. 

National banks....: 62 $3,725,000 $ 685,650 $4,410,650 

Private banks 237 3,386,105 345,832 3,731,937 

Totals 299 $7,111,105 $1,031,482 $8,142,587 

Of the 237 private banks, only 148 advertise their capital ; but estimating 
the capital behind the eighty-nine banks who do not publish the amount 
employed, as being in the same ratio as that of the banks who do, would 
increase the footings of the total capital invested in private banks, by 
$1,401,394. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 301 

From an official statement prepared in the office of the Secretary of the 
Territory, it appears that, up to July 1, 1887, forty-one mortgage and loan 
companies had been incorporated. These companies have a paid up capi- 
tal of more than $1,000,000. In addition, some ten companies, incorpor- 
ated under the laws of different states, are emplojdng about $750,000 in 
the mortgage and loan business, in the Territory. 

Summing up, we find that the grand total of capital engaged in the 
various branches of the banking business, throughout Dakota, amounts to 
$11,293,981, distributed as follows: 

237 Private banks '. $ 5,133,331 

62 National banks 4,410,650 

51 Mortgage and loan companies 1,750,000 

350 $11,293,981 

Thus, we see that within the two last years there has been an increase 
of eighty per cent, in the number of bankinginstitutions of the Territory, 
and of 125 per cent, in the amount of capital thus employed. 

Twenty-eight of the states, including Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin., 
Texas, Connecticut, California, and Kentucky, have a less number of 
banks than Dakota. The Territory has more banks than the eight states of, 
North Carolina, West Virginia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, 
Delaware, and Nevada combined; more than twice the number that is 
credited to the state of Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire, or Maryland; 
nearly three times as many banks as Georgia, Virginia, Colorado, or Tennes- 
see, and more than the states of Vermont and Oregon and all the other 
territories of the Union put together. 

For the following interesting facts concerning early banking operations 
in Dakota, we are indebted to anaddiess delivered before the last conven- 
tion of the Dakota Bankers' association, by Mr. Frank Drew, cashier of 
the Bank of Highmore: 

Mark M. Palmer opened the first bank in the Territory, with a capital 
of $1,000, at Yankton, in the fall of 1869. At that time Yankton drew her 
trade from every section of Dakota and, as a result, the bank had a large 
and widely distributed business with merchants, individuals, Indian 
agents, post-traders, etc., communication with whom was carried on 
solely by means of the stage coach. Borrowers were then accustomed to 
furnish personal securities only, the chattel mortgage being an innovation 
of latei days. 

The second bank was organized September 21, 1871, by V. E. Prentice, 
at Vermilliou, under the name of the Clay County bank. 

The third bank to be organized was the Bank of Union County, estab^ 
iished at Elk Point in the spring of 1872, by W. Hoffman. 

The fourth bank in the Territory was established at Yankton in the fall 
of 1872 by P. P. Wintermute. 

In the winter of 1872 the First National bank of Yankton, (and the first 
national bank established in Dakota,) was organized. 



302 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

DAKOTA'S BANKS, 1887, COMPARED WITH STATES AND OTHER TERRITORIES OF THE UNION. 
Rank. States. 



47 ARIZONA, 



46 NEVADA, 



Number. 



10 



45 UTAH, 



44 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 
43 WYOMING TER., 
42 IDAHO, 



41 NEW MEXICO, 
40 DELAWARE, 



!9 ARKANSAS, 



38 LOUISIANA, 



37 MONTANA, 



36 WASHINGTON TER 



35 MISSISSIPPI, 
34 FLORIDA, 



33 WEST VIRGINIA, 
32 NORTH CAROLINA, 
31 SOUTH CAROLINA, 
30 OREGON, 
29 ALABAMA, 
28 VERMONT, 




21 



27 



29 



30 



38 



48 



48 



49 
"50 



71 
76 
99 



27 TENNESSEE, 




16 CONNECTICUT, 



103 



105 



107 
112 



115 
117 



121 



141 
180 
"192 
"204 



15 TEXAS, 



217 
"219 



261 

267 



14 WISCONSIN. 



13 MINNESOTA, 



12 INDIANA, 



11 DAKOTA, 



10 MICHIGAN, 



9 MISSOURI, 



8 MASSACHUSETTS, 




1 NEW YORK, 



299 

_ 386 
391 




RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 303 

By this time the mode of doing business Lad somewhat changed and loans 
were now made on chattel mortgages. Dakota investments so long held 
in doubt and suspicion, were becoming prominent and sought for. Rail- 
roads began the extension of their lines in every direction, weaving into 
the present giant web the commercial interests of the Territory. Bank- 
ing interests, partaking of the general growth and prosperity of Dakota, 
especially during the period since 1SS0, have increased in number and the 
scope of their business, until today we are enabled to make the marvelous 
showing just detailed. 

The business of real estate loans, which in early years was but small 
has grown to vast proportions and is now handled by fifty-one incorpor- 
ated companies. 

The treasurer of one of the leading Dakota loan and trust companies 
says: "The/volume of this Western nio:tgage business is very great, as 
indicated by the fact that in all cities, and in almost every town and vil- 
lage of the Middle and Eastern states, innumerable agents are engaged in 
negotiating Western mortgages. As indicative of the magnitude the bus- 
iness has assumed in some of the largest cities of the East, it may be 
stated, for example, that in Boston more than fifty Western farm mort- 
gage companies are represented by agents or agencies, all engaged in the 
active negotiation of these securities." 

The same authority estimates the total amount loaned upon realty 
through these agencies, exceeds §10,000,000, annually. The rate of interest 
charged on real estate loans, by the mortgage and trust companies, ranges 
from seven to ten per cent. 

On page 260 the reader will find a detailed account of the credit and 
financial standing of the Territory, and of each county separately, includ- 
ing some remarks in reference to the mortgage indebtedness of the farmers 
of Dakota, as compared with that of the farmers of the states. 

A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE COMMERCIAL LAW OF THE TERRITORY. 

Interest. — Legal rate seven per cent., but parties may contract, in writing, 
for twelve per cent. Usury forfeits usurious interest. Interest on open 
accounts runs from date of lasr item charged, whether debit or credit. 
Legal rate allowed on judgments. 

Notes and Bills, of Exchange. .—There is no statutory law defining or des- 
cribing commercial paper, nor any law requiring that it should be made 
payable at a bank or at any other specified place. Three days of grace al- 
lowed on all bills of exchange or sight drafts, whether foreign or domes- 
tic, and on all promissory notes, 1)11 Is of exchange and drafts, on the face 
of which time is specified, and notes on demand for payment of same. 
Acceptances must be in writing by the drawee or an acceptor for honor. 

To hold endorser, the instrument must be presented on the day of ma- 
turity, and notice of dishonor given. Damages are allowed in favor of 
holders for value on bills of exchange, drawn or negotiated within the 
Territory, and protested for non acceptance or non payment. Apparent 



304 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

maturity of a non interest bearing sight or demand note is ten days after 
date, in addition to the time required for transmission; on interest bear- 
ing notes, one year from date. Holidays are every Sunday, the 1st of 
January, the 22d of February, the 30th of May, the 4th of July, the 25th of 
December, every general election day, every day appointed by the Pres- 
ident of the United States, or by the Governor of the Territory, for a pub- 
lic fast, Thanksgiving, or holiday. If the 1st of January, 22d of February, 
4th of July, or the 25th of December, fall on Sunday, the Monday follow- 
ing is a holiday. Bills and notes falling due on a holiday, are deemed due 
and payable on the following day. 

Mortgages, of realty, must be in writing, with the formalities required 
in case of a grant of real estate. Wife need not join, except in mortgage 
of homestead. If containing power of sale, may be foreclosed by adver- 
tisement, without intervention of court. Mortgagee has possession of the 
premises during the year of redemption after sale. Chattel mortgages 
are void as against creditors and subsequent purchasers in good faith, 
unless filed in the office of the register of deeds within the county. 

Acknowledgement*, of deeds or instruments, maybe made before a justice, 
clerk of the supreme court, or notary public, at any place within the Ter- 
ritory, and before either a judge or clerk of a court of record, mayor of a 
city, register of deeds, justice of the peace, United States circuit or dis- 
trict court commissioner, county clerk, or county auditor, within the 
judicial district, county, sub-division, or city, for which the officer was 
elected or appointed. 

If without the Territory, before any judge or clerk of a court of record 
of the United States, or any state or territory, notary public, or any other 
officer of the state or territory where ihe acknowledgement is made, 
authorized by its laws to take such proof or acknowledgement, or com- 
missioner of deeds appointed by the Governor of this Territory. 

In foreign countries, before a minister, commissioner, diplomatic, or 
consular agent of the United States, or a judge or notary public of said 
country. Letters patent from the United States and final receivers' re- 
ceipts from the United States land offices, may be recorded without ac- 
knowledgement, or further proof. 

Assignments and Insolvency. — Insolvent debtors may, in good faith, make 
assignments in trust for the benefit of creditors, which may provide for 
any subsisting liability of the assignor, whether absolute or contingent. 
Such assignment is subject to the provisions of the code relative to trusts 
and fraudulent transfers. Any debtor may make assignment, without 
preference of creditors, but is not relieved from liability for any unpaid 
balance to his creditors. 

Attachment process issues at the time of granting the summons, or at any 
time afterward, in actions on contracts for the recovery of money only, or 
for wrongful conversion of personal, property, against a foreign corpora- 
tion, or non resident defendant, or when defendant has absconded, or 
concealed himself, or has assigned, disposed of, or secreted his property, 
or is about to do so, w T ith intent to defraud creditors, or that the debt was 
incurred from property obtained under false pretenses. Plaintiff must 
make affidavit and furnish bond in not less than $250, nor more than the 



R ESOURCES F DA KOTA . 305 

amount claimed, in district courts, and at least$50and not exceeding *:!00, 
in justices' courts. Real, and personal property, debts, moneys, credits, 
and bank-notes, may be attached or levied on under execution or attach- 
ment, but there is no process of garnishment. 

Smta. — Actions in courts of record are commenced by server of sum- 
mons, and service may be made by leaving copy with defendant, in per- 
son, or by delivering a copy to a member of defendant's family, (at de- 
fendant's dwelling-bouse,) over the age of fourteen years, or, if defend- 
ant is a non-resident, by publication. All civil actions must be prosecuted 
in the name of the real party in interest. 

Executions issue as of course, at any time within five years after judg- 
ment, and must be returned within sixty days. Lands levied on need 
not be appraised, but notice of sale must be given. Same provisions 
apply injustices' courts as to levy, etc., on personal property. There is 
no stay law, and execution can only be stayed by order of the court, for 
irregularity, by injunction, or by appeal, with security given. Real 
estate, sold under execution, may be redeemed within one year. 

Ju lg nents of courts of record area lien on all real estate, except the 
homestead, for ten years from time such judgment is docketed in the 
clerk's office of the county where the land is situated, and, by having ex- 
ecution issued every five years, are good for twenty years. 

Judgments in courts of records may be obtained within thirty days 
after service of summons and complaint; in justices' courts, four days 
where no defense is interposed. 

Limihdions: — Personal actions, two years; on contracts or obligations, 
six years; oil sealed instruments, judgments or decrees of any court, and 
in real actions, twenty years. 

A Married Woman retains the same legal existence and legal person- 
ality, after marriage as before marriage, and receives the same protection 
of all her rights as a woman, that her husband does as a man, and may 
appeal, in her own name, alone, to the courts of law or equity for redress 
and protection. She re'ains her own realand personal property, and may 
make contracts, sue and be sued as if sole. Neither husband nor wife 
has any interest in the property of the other. 

Dower and curtesy are abolished. 

Tnues become due and payable on the first day of November of each 
year. On the first Monday of ihe following February, all unpaid taxes 
become delinquent and draw interest at .the rate often per cent, per an- 
num, from the date of such delinquency. To all delinquent taxes a pen- 
alty of five per cent, on the amount remaining unpaid, is added at the 
time they become delinquent and, on the first day of each month there- 
after, an additional penalty of one per cent, is added until the taxes are 
paid. Lands are sold for delinquent taxes in October of the same year in 
which they become delinquent, and the land may be redeemed within 
two years, by payment of purchase money and interest thereon, at the 
rate of thirty per cent, per annum, and all taxes subsequently paid. 
Taxes become a lien on real property, as between vendor and purchaser 
on November 1st of each year. Collectors may proceed to enforce collec- 
tion on and after .January 1st, following the levy by distress and sale. 



306 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



JUDICIARY. 



SUMMARY OF THE JUDICIAL POWERS VESTED IN THE VARIOUS COURTS OF THE 

TERRITORY. 

The judicial power, in Dakota, is vested in a supreme court, consisting 
of a chief justice and five associate justices appointed by the President of 
the United States, any five of whom constitute a quorum; district courts, 
(each district being presided over by one of the justices of the supreme 
court,) and in county probate courts, and justices of the peace, the officers 
of which are named by the people. 

Writs of error and appeal, from the final decision of the supreme court 
ot the Territory to the supreme court of the United States, are allowed, 
where the value of the property or amount in controversy exceeds the 
sum of $5 

Writs of error, bills of exception, and appeals from the final decision of 
the district court to the supreme court of the Territory, are allowed in all 
cases, under regulations prescribed by law. Oases before the supreme 
court are tried by the court, — never by jury. . 

The supreme court of the Territory meets each year at Bismarck, com- 
mencing the first Tuesday of February ; at Yankton, commencing the 
ond Tuesday of May; and at Deadwood, commencing the first Tuesday of 
October. 

The district courts of the Territory possess exclusive chancery, as well as 
common law jurisdiction, where the amount at issue exceeds $100, and are 
always open for the hearing of all actions, special proceedings, motions, 
and applications, of whatever kind or character, whether of a criminal or 
civil nature, arising under the laws of the Territory, of which the district 
courts have jurisdiction, original or appellate, except issues of fact in civil 
and criminal actions. 

Courts of justices of the peace have concurrent jurisdiction with district 
courts of any matter in controversy where the debt or sum claimed does 
not exceed $100; but justices courts have no jurisdiction whatever, where 
the title to real estate comes in question. 

Probate courts hold six special terms during the year, but are always 
open. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 807 

The First, Second, Third, and Sixth judicial districts are vested with 
powers and jurisdiction appertaining to the district and circuit courts of 
the United States; and distrirt courts, in and for said First, Second, Third, 
and Sixth districts, exercising such powers and jurisdiction, are held as 
follows: 

First District: At Deadwood, on the first Tuesday of August, and the 
third Tuesday of January. 

Second District: At Yankton, on the first Tuesday of April, and the 
second Tuesday of November. 

Third District: At Fargo, on the first Tuesdays of June and December. 

Sixlh District: At. Bismarck, on the first Tuesdays of March and 
September. 

The Fourth and Fifth judicial districts are embraced within the boun- 
daries of the Second judicial district, for the exercise of the power and 
jurisdiction to try causes in which the United States is a party. 

SUBDIVISIONS OF THE JUDICIAL DISTRICTS OF DAKOTA, TOGETHER WITH THE TIME 
AND PLACE OF HOLDING COURT IN EACH, ETC. 

The Territory is divided into six judicial districts, and each district 
is subdivided and presided over as follows; 

FIRST DISTRICT, HON. C M. THOMAS, DEADWOOD, JUDGE. 



Sub- 
division. 



Boundaries. 



Terms of Court. 



No. 1 Pennington county Rapid City, on the third Tuesday of 

May, and the fourth Tuesday of Oc- 
tober, of e;.ch ye r. 

No- 2 Custer county Custer City, on the second Tuesday of 

June, and third Tuesday of October, 
! of each year. 

No. 3 Fall River county Hot Springs, on the third Tuesday of 

No. 4 Lawrence, Rulte, Harding, Burdick, June of each year. 

Ewing, Man in, Wagner, Choteau, 
Rinehart, Delano, Scobey, Ziebach, 
Washington, Shannon, Schnasse, 
Dewey, Pyatt, Washabaugh, Jack- 
son, and Lugenbeel Deadwood, on the first Tuesdays of 

August and January, and special 
terms ou the first Mondays of March, 
i 1 July, September, and December. 

SECOND DISTRICT, HON. BARTLETT TRIPP, YANKTON, JUDGE. 



Sub- 
division. 



Boundaries. 



Terms of Court. 



No. 1 Yankton county 

No. 2 iBonHomme county 

No. 8 Charles Mix and Douglas counties. 



No. 4 Hutchinson county.. 

No. 5 Davison, Hunson, ai 

ties 



d Aurora coun-i 



No. 6 Jerauld and Sanborn counties , 

No. 7 Miner county 

No. 8 Brule, Buffalo, Lyman, Presho, Rratt, 

Meyer, Tripp, and Gregory coun. 

ties 



Yankton, on the firstTuesday of April, 
and the second Tuesday of Novem- 
ber. Special terms on the first Mon- 
days of January, March, July, and 
September. 

Tyndall, on the second Tuesday of 
September. 

Wheeler, at such time as the judge 
may appoint. 

Olivet, at such time as the judge may 
appoint. 

Alexandria, on the second Tuesday of 
June, and such other special terms 
as the judge may appoint. 



Howard, on the first Tuesday of May, 
I and such other special terms as the 
I judg may appoint. 
jChamberlain, at such times as the 
I judge may appoint. 



!08 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

THIRD DISTRICT, HON. W. B. MC CONNELL, FARGO, JUDGE. 



Sub- 
division. 



Boundaries. 



Terms of Court. 



Pembina, on the first Mondays of April 

and October. 
Grand Forks, on the second Tuesdays 

of April and October. 
Grafton, at such limes as the judge may 

elect. 
Caledonia, on the third Tuesdays of 

April and October. 
Fargo, on the first Tuesdays of June 

and December. 
Lisbon, on the second Thursday of 

March. 

Nelson county Lakota.on the third Monday of August. 

Wahpeton, on the fourth Tuesday of 

March, and first Tuesday of October. 
Formrtn at such times as the judge may 

elect. 
Devils Lake, at such times as the judge 

may elect. 
Langdon, at such times as the judge 

may elect. 



No. 1.. 

No. 2.. 

No 8.. 

No. 4.. 

No. 5.. 

No. 6 . 

No. 7.. 

No. 8 Richland county 

No 9 Saigent county 

No. 10 Ramsey and Towner counties. 

I 
No. 11 Cavalier county 



Pembina cotmty 

Grand Forks county. 

Walsh county 

Traill county 

Cass county 

Ransom county 



FOURTH DISTRICT, HON. C. S. PALMER, SIOUX FALLS, JUDGE. 



Sub- 
division. 


Boundaries. 


Terms of Court. 


No. 1 


Clay count y 


Vermillion, on the first Tuesday in 


No. 2 




February and the third Tuesday in 
September. 
E.i<. Point, on the third Tuesday in 


No. 3 


Turner county 


February and first Tuesday in Sep- 
, tember. 
Parker, on the fourth Tuesday in Feb- 


No. 4 




ruary and the fourth Tuesday in Sep- 
tember. 


No. 5 


Minnehaha county 


March and the third Tuesday in Oc- 
tober. 
Sioux Falls, on the second Tuesday in 


No. 6 




April and the second Tuesday in 

November. 
Salem, on the fourth Tuesday in May. 
Madison, on the first Tuesday in June. 


No. 7 




No. 8 








June and the first Tuesday in Jan- 
uary. 



FIFTH DISTRICT, HON. JAMES SPENCER, HURON, JUDGE. 



Sub- 
division. 



No. 1. 
No. 2. 

No. 3. 

No. 4. 
No. 5. 

No. 6. 



No. 7... 
No. 8... 
No. 9... 
No. 10 
No. 11. 



Boundaries. 



Terms of Court. 



Brookings county. 
Kingsbury county 
Codington county. 



Deuel county.... 
Hamlin county. 



Hughes, Stanley, Sterling, and Now- 
lin counties..*. 



Hand county.., 
Beadle comity. 
Spink county.. 
Brown county. 
Grant county... 



Brookings, on the second Tuesday in 

June and December. 
DeSmet, on the third Tuesday in June 

and December. 
Watertoun, on the first Tuesday in 

June and December. 
Gary, on the Fourth Monday in May. 
Castlewood, on the fourth Tuesday in 

November. 

Pierre, on the second Tuesday in April 

and September. 
Miller, on the fourth Tuesday in April 

and the third Tuesday- in October. 
Huron, on the first Tuesday in May 

and October. 
Redfield, on the second Tuesday in 

July and January. 
Aberdeen, on the" third Tuesday in 

in July and January. 
Milbank, on the third Tuesday in 

March and November. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA.. 

FIFTH DISTRICT. — CONTINUED . 



309 



Sub- 
division. 



Boundaries. 



Terms of Court. 



No. 12 Edmunds, McPherson, Walworth 

and Campbell counties , Ipswich, on the second Tuesday in 

\ September. 

No. 13 Hyde county Highmore, on the third Tuesday in 

i September. 

No. 14 Sully county Onida, ou the fourth Tuesday in Octo- 

j ber. 

No. 15 Day and Marshall counties Webster, on the second Tuesday of 

August. 

No. 16 Potter county [Gettysburg, on the third Tuesday in 

February. 
No. 17 Faulk county Faulkton, on the first Tuesday in Sep- 
tember and the fourth Tuesday of 
| January. 

No. 18 [Clark county Clark, on the first Tuesday of Febru- 

ary and third Tuesday in August. 

No. 19 Roberts county Wilmot, at least one term, each year, 

and two if deemed necessary by the 
judge, at such times as he shall desig- 
nate. 



SIXTH DISTRICT, HON. WILLIAM H. FRANCIS, BISMARCK, JUDGE. 



Sub- 
division. 



Boundaries. 



Terms of Court. 



No. 1.... 



No. 2 



No. 3. 



Burleigb. Boreman, Emmons, Mc- 
Lean, Stevens, Sheridan, and Gar- 
field counties 



Morton, Hettinger, Oliver, Mercer, 
and Williams counties 



Kidder and Logan counties 



No. 4.. Stutsman and LaMoure counties. 



No. 5 j Barnes countv 

No. 6 Benson, Bottineau, 

counties 



and Rolette 



No. 7 



Kn 


8 


No 


9 


No. 


10 


No. 


11 



Dickev and Mcintosh counties 



Griggs and Steele counties ' 

Ward. Renville, Mountraille, Flan- 

nery, Buford, and McHenry coun-; 

ties 

Stark, Bowman, Billings, Dunn, Mc-J 

Kenzie. Allred, and Wallace coun- j 

ties I 



Foster, Wells, and Eddy counties- 



Bismarck, on the first Tuesday in 
March, and first Tuesday in Septem- 
ber, each year. 

Mandan, on the first Tuesday in Jan- 
nary and August, in each year. 

Steele, at such time in each year as the 
judge may direct. 

Jamestown, on the second Tuesday in 
May and November, in each year. 

Valley City, on the last Tuesday of 
June, of each year. 

Minnewaukan, at such time in each 
year as the judge may direct. 

EllendaJe, at such time in each year as 
the judge may direct. 

Cooperstown. on the second Tuesday in 
June of each year. 

Burlington, at such time in each year 
as the judge may direct. 

Dickinson, at such time in each year 

as the judge may direct. 
Carrington, at such time as the court 

may direct. 



310 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



INFORMATION FOR INTENDING SETTLERS. 



2.50 " 


3.00 


(< 


it 


3.50 " 


4.50 


ii 


n 


3.00 " 


4.00 


a 


It 


2.00 " 


2.50 


it 


n 


1.75 " 


3.00 


it 


u 


2.00 " 


2.50 


it 


tt 


1.75 " 


2.50 


tt 


it 


2.00 " 


4.00 per 


w'k. 


11.00 " 


20.00 


i i 


a 



Wages of farm laborers, regular season hands, from $20 to $25 per month. 

day-laborers, from $1.50 to $1.75 per day. 

carpenters, " , 

stone-masons, " 

brick-layers, " 

painters, " , 

blacksmiths, " , 

tinners, " 

harness-m'k'rs, " 

servant girls " 

printers, " 

Good farm horses cost from $100 to $175 each. 
A set of good farm harness costs from $25 to $35 per set. 
Milch cows are worth from $25 to $40 each. 
Work oxen can be bought for $75 to $150 per yoke. 
A farm wagon will cost about $75. 
A breaking-plow will cost about $22. 
A sulky breaking-plow will cost about $50. 
A stirring- plow will cost about $17. 
A mower will cost about $00. 
A harrow will cost from $8 to $20. 
A hay-rake (riding,) will cost about $25. 
A self-binder will cost about $160. 

Good, common lumber ranges from $12 to $20 per thousand, along the 
line of a railroad. ( 

A good dwelling house can be built for $350. Many of the settlers live 
comfortably, for the first }'ear or so, in sod houses, or "shacks," costingless 
than $100. 
Soft coal costs from $5 to $7 per ton. 
Hard coal costs from $9.00 to $12.50 per ton. 

Lignite, a good quality of bituminous coal, sells, along the line of the 
Northern Pacific railroad, at from $1.50 to $2.50 per ton. 
Where wood is to be had, it sells at from $2.00 to $6.00 per cord. 
Household goods, farm-implements, building-material, and food sup- 
plies, are to be had everywhere in the Territory, at quite reasonable 
prices. 

Many settlers engage a freight or stock-car, and ship through, at special 
emigrant rates, (which can always be ascertained by making inquiry of 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 311 

the agent at the railway station nearest your present home,) household 
goods, a few head of stock, farming implements, etc., etc. 

It is advisable to purchase your breaking or stirring plow, harrows, and 
other farm machinery, in Dakota, as Eastern machinery is sometimes not 
suitable for a prairie farm. 

"Breaking" is plowing the original sod, and is usually done in the 
months of May, June, and July. To hire the work done, costs from $3 to 
$4 per acre. 

"Back-setting" is a second and deeper plowing, later in the season, and 
costs, to hire the work done, from §1.50 to $1.75 per acre. 

Sowing grain commences as soon as the frost is out of the ground to the 
depth of a few inches — and is generally begun in the latter part of March 
or early in April. 

Small grain is harvested in July and August. An abundant crop of corn, 
flax, or vegetables, can be raised, the first year, on newly broken sod. 

The most successful farmer is he who raises a few horses, cattle, 
sheep, hogs, hens, and turkeys; makes butter, and diversifies his crop by 
planting corn, oats, wheat, barley, flax, or such other farm products as can 
be grown in the neighborhood. 

Native hay can be put up for about $1.50 per ton. 

A Territorial herd law obviates the necessity of fencing, excepting in 
certain counties in the Black Hills. Very few farmers go to the expense 
of fencing their lands. 

For full and detailed information, the manner of proceeding to obtain 
lands, under the general land laws, including the homestead, pre-emption, 
and timber-culture laws, fees to be paid, number of acres you can acquire, 
and, in fact, everything necessary to be known, the reader is referred to 
an article on the General Land Laws of the United States, page 280, of 
this pamphlet. The manner of marking the public lands by township, 
range, and section corner-posts, is explained on page 288. 

Under the head of each county, on the pages following, is placed the 
number of acres of public lands remaining subject to entry on the 1st of 
Jane, 1887. By referring to page 291, the reader can ascertain the land 
district in which each county is situated, and the location of the ten 
United States land offices, together with the names of the registers and 
receivers. 

In looking for land, a good plan to adopt is to apply at the United States 
land office, or to any reputable land agent, for township plats, showing 
the occupied and unoccupied land in the vicinity. Then procure a con- 
veyance, and a driver who is familiar with the district; go over the ground 
until you find a suitable claim, then return and file an application in the 
local land office. 

The Northern Pacific and Chicago and Northwestern railway com- 
panies, both have lands for sale on easy terms, as will be more fully 

explained by correspondence with the proper officers of the corporations 
named. 



312 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

In nearly every county of the Territory, deeded lands are to be had at 
a very low figure — say from $2.00 per acre, up. Parties desiring to purchase 
deeded land, and being undecided as to location, should read over the 
county descriptions on tbe last pages of this publication. Having made 
your selection, address a letter of inquiry for prices, terms, etc., to some 
one of the county officials, or to the newspapers, or banks in the county 
named — any one of whom will answer you, courteously and promptly. 

Do not ask this office to select a location for you, or to advise you in 
what part of the Territory to settle, or invest. Thoughtful correspond- 
ents will understand that this office must always decline to give advice in 
such matters. 

The question is often asked: " How much money should I have, to start 
with, in Dakota?" 

It is impossible to frame an answer that will meet the varying circum- 
stances presented in different cases. 

Some of our most prosperous farmers of to-day are men who came to 
Dakota with barely sufficient means to provide shelter for their families, 
and break and plant a few acres the first season. 

While Dakota soil is prolific, and the opportunities offered to an ener- 
getic, pushing man, for gaining a livelihood, are better, we believe, than 
elsewhere in all the world, yet, our advice is to come prepared for a pos- 
sible emergency. 

A man, the head of a family and intending to settle upon a farm, should 
have, in money or property, not less than $500. Even then, the settler 
must be possessed of grit and energy in order to succeed. Pluck and push 
often make up for a deficiency of capital. 

Young men, without families to support, if industrious, can, by employ- 
ing spare time in breaking and doing other work, for their neighbors, get 
along with very little money to begin with. 

It will be remembered that we are tendering advice to the thrifty, en- 
ergetic, and frugal settler, with the understanding that he is a man of good 
judgment and strong will. 

The indolent and thriftless man will fail in Dakota, with the same ease 
and celerity that has followed his career in the East. 

The description of each county of the Territory (on the pages following,) 
includes a statement of the different railroads traversing the county, with 
a list of stations, etc. Ascertain from the map the railway station nearest 
the town that you wish to go, and inquire either of your home agent 
or write the general passenger agent of the railroad which takes you into 
Dakota, for emigrant, passenger, and freight rates. The latest official 
maps, showung each postoffice, railroad, land district, etc., etc., will be 
sent to any address on receipt of request. 

If this pamphlet does not furnish satisfactory answers to all your in- 
quiries, write to the Commissioner of Immigration, Pierre, Dakota, who 
will give prompt attention to your communication. 



AREA, SOIL, TIMBER, 

Railroads, Banks, Newspapers, Schools, 

FARM STATISTICS, POSTOFFICES, ETC., 

BY COUNTIES. 



NOTE : 

In the county descriptions, following, it has been impossible to 
obtain reliable information of the population, lands improved, number of 
farms, size of farms, potato crop, wool-clip, and dairy products, of later 
date than the Territorial census of 1885. These figures, if available, 
would add much to the showing of progress in every county. 

The data included in the brief description of county seats and impor- 
tant towns, were obtained, in every instance, from official sources. The 
blanks, ashing for the information, were sent out in July, and some 
changes have, no doubt, occurred since that date. 

The mention of a number of towns has been unavoidably omitted be- 
cause of a neglect, by the parties communicated with, to furnish this of- 
fice with the required information. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 315 



ALLRED COUXTY. 



Created, March 9, 1883. Formerly a part of Howard county. Bounda- 
ries changed, March 10, 1885. Unorganized. 

Allred county lies on the western boundary, near the northwest part of 
the Territory/ Principal streams, the Missouri, forming the northern 
boundary, and the Yellowstone, flowing through the western part of the 
county. Both are navigable. Nearly two-thirds of Allred county is in- 
cluded within the boundaries of military and Indian reservations. The 
remaining third is uusurveyed, and, practically, unoccupied. That por- 
tion, of Allred county within the limits of the Fort Berthold Indian reser- 
vation, is soon to be opened to settlement, under ah agreement with the 
Indians, which awaits the ratification of Congress. 

Vacant public lands, 326,400 acres. 

AURORA COUNTY. 



Area, 460,800 acres. Created, February 22, 1870. Boundaries changed, 
March 0, 1883. Organized, August 8, 1881, by the appointment by the 
Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: E. H. Mcintosh, A. B. 
Smart, Charles Brendenbosh. 

Aurora county is situated in the southern part of the Territory, in the 
third tier of counties north of the boundary line between Dakota and Ne- 
braska, and in the second east of the Missouri river. The surface, gener- 
ally speaking, is broad, rolling prairie. Principal streams are the" Fire- 
steel and Platte. Other smaller streams flowing into the James and Mis- 
souri rivers drain the southeastern part of the county. Theie are - 
considerable bodies of water in the county, notably White lake, in the 
northwestern part, covering nearly and Plajte lake, near the 

west line. A half dozen smaller lakes are scattered over the central por- 
tions of the county. The soil is a deep, black, slightly sandy loam, mixed 
with a light, sandy clay, retains moisture well, and giv rapid 

growth. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Mi] t. Paul railway, 

(main line.) twenty-four miles; stations: Plankinton, White Lake. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are five banks doing 1 . i the county, as follows; Bank of 

Plankinton. at Plankinton, E. S. Rowley, president ; F. L. £ 
Farmers & Merchants Bank, at Plankinton, P. B. Hart, 
Mason's Bank, at Plankinton, Geo. Mason, president: D. 
Aurora County Bank, at White Lake. F. R. Preston, president, J. P. 
Vogel, cashier'. White Lake Bank, White Lake, J. C. Ryan, president; 
L. Lcevinger, cashier. 

XEWSPAPEKS. 

Standard, A. M. Andrews, ] . Plankinton; Dakota Free Press, 

Fred Kibbe, editor and publisher, Plankinton; Dakota Beacon. T. N. 
Treat, editor and publisher, Plankinton; Farmers Mutual Journal, Jour- 
nal Company, editors and publishers, Plankinton: Times, Hooper Bros., 
publishers. White Lake; Democrat, John T. Ronayne, editor and pub- 
lisher, White Lake. 



316 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



, COUNTY SEAT. 

The city of PJankinton, situated near the center, is the county seat. It 
has a population of 1,200; school-buildings valued at $7,000; congrega- 
tional, methodist, and catholic church edifices, valued at $8,500; brick 
court-house and jail, valued at $18,000; an artesian well costing $4,000 and 
a flour-mill valued at $10,000. Assessed valuation city propertv, 1886, 
real, $143,782; personal, $127,937; total, $271,719. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

White Lake, in the western portion, has a population of 550; artesian 
water; two story school-building; four churches, methodist, presbyterian, 
catholic and lutheran, with buildings valued at $16,300; and a roller flour- 
mill. Assessed valuation, 1886, real, $35,000; personal, $66,545; total, 
$101,545. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, twenty-one; school population, 1,703; 
number of school-houses in district, seventy-two; number of school- 
houses built in 1886, eleven; average monthly pay of teachers, males, 
$31.31; females, $27.36; value of all school property," $48,616.67; expended 
for school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $25,750; cash re- 
maining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $2,012.78; par amount of school 
bonds. outstanding June 30, 1886, $40,995.09: average rate of interest paid 
on bonds seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 
30, 1886, $6,226.12. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Date. 


Horses. 


Mules and 

Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


3.020 

3.314 
3.628 


207 
258 
255 


5.230 
5,548 
6 314 


1,209 
1,080 
1,093 


2,513 $167,932 
2,144 305,217 
2,544 219.808 


VALUATION STATISTICS. 


Date. 


Acres Real Vnl nation Town Lots 
Estate. \aluation. valuation. 


Personal Prop-I' 1 ^, 1 assessed 
erty valuation .J —on of 


1885 
1886 
1887 


190,361 $578 901 
215,878 721,152 
243,076 800 626 


$166,188 
200,886 

207,679 


$209 138 
310.565 
242,010 


$1,122,159 

1.537,320 
1,470,123 



FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county for vears 1880, 
1885 and 1887. 





Bushels in 

1880. 


Bushels in 

1885. 


Bushels i 

1887. 


Wheat 


none 
395 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


. 235.343 

155 115 

200 200 

1,221 

1,834 

6,103 


319.814 

602,175 

225,100 

6,132 

600 

15.936 

78,003 




Oats 


Rve 




Barley 


Flax 



COMPARATIVE STATISTICS, CENSUS 1880 AND 1885. 

Population of county, 1880, sixty-nine; 1885, 5,950. Lands improved 
1880, 3,840 acres; 1885, 89,323 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 21; 1885, 
1,278. Average size of farms, 1880,183 acres; 1885, seventy acres. Aver- 
age assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.29. County indebtedness, 1887 
$35,335.00." Potato crop, 1885, 43,637 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 7,463 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885; milk, 6,696 gallons; butter, 
134,699 pounds; cheese, 955 pounds; eggs, 76,783 dozen. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 317 

NAME AN T !) POSTOFPICB ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



Plankintcm. 
Plankinton. 
Plankinton. 
Plankinton. 
Plankinton. 



County Clerk S. R. Drake 

Treasurer John Rogers 

Sheriff' Daniel O'Kane 

Clerk District Court A. H. Rogers 

Probate Juctee S. H. Bakewell 

Register .of Deeds S R. Drake Plankinton. 

Attorney H. F. Fellows Plankinton. 

Superintendent of Schools W. P. Robeson 'Plankinton. 

Suveyor R. H. Watson Plankinton. 

Coroner ' 

f |j. L. Hemtz (chairman) 

' 'C. W. Mcintosh 

Commissioners ■( jJohn Davis 

H. W. Bruvn 



White Lake. 
Plankinton. 
Plankinton. 
Plankinton. 
;W. G. Andrews 'Plankinton. 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


L887. 


Bel ford 


Gilbert 


Robey.... 


Canty 




! arsons... 


White Lake 


Flynn 


Plankinton 


Wyatt 



BARNES COUNTY. 



Area, 967,680 acres. CreatedJanuary 14, 1875, from parts of Br> -bank and 
Cass. Organized, August 5, 1878, by appointment by tbe Governor, of the 
following commissioners, viz.: Christian Anderson, Otto Becker, An- 
drew Goodwin. 

|J[Barnes county is in the second tier of counties west of the Red river, 
and the fifth south of the International boundary line. Principal streams 
are the Sheyenne, which traverses from north to south through the mid- 
dle of the county; the Maple, which rises in and crosses the northeastern 
townships, and Bald Hill creek in the north. There are several other 
smaller streams in the county. The surface is about ninetv-seven per 
cent, undulating uplands; bottom lands three per cent. It 'is estimated 
that the county contains about 9,000 acres of timber land, distributed 
along the various streams. The soil is very productive, and has an aver- 
age depth of nearly two feet. The sub-soils are a conglomerate, united by 
yellow clay— frequently extending to depths often feet, or more. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific, (main line,) thirty-seven 
miles; stations: Oriska. Alta, Valley City, Hobart, Sanborn, Eekelson; 
(Sanborn and Turtle Mountain branch,) 21.4 miles; stations: Sanborn, 
Odell, Dazey. Total, 58.4 miles. 

Vacant public lands, 3,680 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are three banks doing business in the county, as follows: Barnes 
County Bank, at Sanborn, J. H. Evans, president; J*. M. Burrell, cashier. 
Farmers & Merchants National Bank, at Valley City, Herbert Root, , 
dent; A. P. Peake, cashier. First National Bank," at Valley City, John 
Russell, president; George Kanouse, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Farmer and Stockman, John M. Dennett, editor and publisher, 
Oriska; Enterprise, Win. McKean, editor and publisher, Sanborn; Record, 
J. Jeff Dobbin, editor and publisher, Valley City; Farmers Alliance, C. H. 
Bassett, editor and publisher, Valley City; North Dakota Democrat, G. B. 
Vallandigham, editor and publisher, Valley City. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Valley City, lying near the center, is the county seat. It has a popula- 
tion of 1,200; brick school-house, valued at $11,000; methodist, episcopal, 



P. 18 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



congregational, and lutheran church edifices, valued at $12,000; court- 
house of brick and stone, costing $35,000; and a flour-mill of the value of 
125.000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, 
$296,592. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Dazey, in the northern portion; population 200; school-building valued 
at $1,500. Eckelson, in the west, population sixty-five; scliool- building 
valued at $1,500. Oriska, in the east; population 150; school-building 
valued at $3,000. Sanborn, between Valley City and Eckelson; popula- 
tion 400; school-building valued at $3,000; congregational, methodist, and 
episcopal church buildings, valued at $9,000. Assessed valuation city 
property, 1886, real, $60,000; personal, $40,000; total, $100,000. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, eighty-five; school population, 1880; 
1,880; number of school-houses in district, seventy-nine; number of school- 
houses built in 1886, four; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $46.50; 
females, $26.85; value of all school property, $134,962.30; expended for 
school purposes during the year ending June 30, 1886, $39,085.74; cash re- 
maining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $11,626.47; par amount of school 
bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $68,781.00; average rate of interest paid 
on bonds, eight per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886,135,192.84. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. j Horses. | Mul !i. and ! Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



154 

2,753 
8.077 
3,657 



10 

344 
324 

289 



274 
3,209 
4,077 
5,334 



679 

862 



1,382 
2,170 
1,792 



$193,125 
315.368 
267.851 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



i Personal Prop-I 1 " 1 ?, 1 ,,.,^? 8 s ?i 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



613.047 
621.816 
644,300 



$1,115,205 
1,733,265 
2,119.710 
2.128,309 



$21 5,044 
237.726 
241,130 



S 65,963 
396 560 
340.430 
364.872 



$1,181,168 
2,537.994 
8.013 234 
3,002,162 



1880, personal property includes live stock. 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 


Bushels in 


Bushels in 


1880. 


1885. 


1887. 


25,237 


1,400.812 


1,183,182 


617 


1.597 


14.040 


11,351 


623,104 


753.300 


none 


2 516 


720 


none 


194 


740 


2.821 


57,678 


174.993 


none 


none 


1.100 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat. 

Barley 

Flax 



COMPARATIVE STATISTICS, CENSUS 18S0 AND 1885. 

Population of county, 1880, 1,585; 1885, 6,093. Lands improved, 1880, 
5,053 acres; 1885, 138, 572 acres. Number of farms, 1880, eighty-three; 1885, 
1,364. Average size of farms, 1880, sixty-one acres; 1885, 102 acres. Aver- 
age assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.29. County indebtedness, 1887, 
$93,575. Potato crop, 1885, 80,665 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 2,463 pounds. 
Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 2,020 gallons; butter, 145,664 
pounds; cheese, 1,080 pounds; eggs, 108,414 dozen. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 319 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS, OF COUNTY OFFICEES IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk C. S. Walker Valley City.. 

Treasurer C. A. Benson Valley City.. 

Sheriff .' John Simons Vallev City., 

Clerk District Court Alex. McConnel) Valley City. 

Probate Judge 'Alex. McConnell Valley City.. 

Register of Deeds ..(John C. Evans Valley City.. 



Attorney , G. K. Andrus. 

Superintendent of Schools i Belle Sampson 

Surveyor Frank White 

Coroner J. W. Vidal 

County Assessor Nicholas Flagler.... 

f 8. Van Sternberg!!. 



Commissioners. 



t ID. N. Gr-en 

{ |D. 0. Malley.... 
I H. Oppegard.... 
LiE. S. Lawrence. 



Valley Citv. 
Vallev Citv. 
Vallev Citv. 
Valley City.. 

Dazey 

Oriska 

Valley City. 
Valley <Aty. 
Dazey ........ 

Ecktison 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


1887. 


Alderman 


Eckelson 

Ellsbury 

Hackett 


Oriska. 






Dailv 




Dazey 




Ode 1 





BEADLE COUNTY. 



Area, 80fi,400 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from parts of Burchard, 
Clark, Kingsbury, and Spink. Boundaries changed, February 22, 1S79, 
part to Brown. Organized, July 9, 1880, by appointment by the Governor, 
of the following commissioners, viz.: Charles Miner, Eli C. Walton, Simon 
Nelson. 

Beadle county is situated in the southern part of the Territory, in the 
fifth tier of counties north of the Nebraska boundary line, and 'midway 
between the Missouri river and the Minnesota boundary. Principal 
streams are the James river, which flows through the county from north 
to south, dividing it into two nearly equal parts, and Pearl and Cain creeks. 
A number of smaller streams drain the various sections of the county. Lake 
Byron, in the northeastern part of the county, is a large sheet of water, 
covering about 1,000 acres. The surface is gently undulating prairie, 
broken," in a few instances, by considerable elevations, including a part of 
the Wessington Hills. The soil is the black loam of the famous James 
river valley, extremely fertile, and of ample depth. The sub-soil is a 
whitish, sandy clay, impregnated with lime and magnesia. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(James river line,) thirty-one miles; stations: Bonilla, Wolsey, Virgil. 
Chicago & Northwestern r*ailway, (main line,) forty-three miles;' stations: 
Cavour, Huron, Wolsey, Wessington; (Huron & Oakes branch,) eighteen 
miles; stations: Huron, Broadland, Altoona. Total miles of railroad, 
ninety-two. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are seven banks doing business in the county, as follows: Bank 
of Altoona, at Altoona, C. F. Emery, president; P. C. Tryner, cashier. 
Beadle County National Bank, at Huron, J. W. Vrooman, president; Ed. 
Crist, cashier. First National Bank, at Huron, J. W. Campbell, presi- 
dent; J. W. MacKenzie, cashier. Huron National Bank, at Huron, L. 
W. Hazen, president; J. A. Fowler, cashier. National Bank of Dakota, 
at Huron, D. L. Stick, president; J. A. Kemp, cashier. Bank of Wessing- 
ton, at Wessington, W. P. Peirce, president; E. H. Vance, cashier. Bank 
of Wolsey, at Wolsey, N. W. Vance, cashier. 



320 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



NEWSPAPEBS. 

News, C. S. Fassett, editor and publisher, Altoona; Beadle County Dem- 
ocrat, James T. Conley, editor and publisher, Cavour; Daily Huronite, 
Davis, Longstaff, & Crouch, editors and publishers, Huron; Daily Times, 
Smith & Cain, editors and publishers, Huron; State Free Trade Democrat, 
Cogan & Cooper, editors and managers, Huron ; The Dakota Farmer, W. 
F. T. Bushnell, editor and publisher, Huron; The Dakota Standard, D. R. 
Grover. editor and publisher, Huron; The Dakota Teacher, J. S. Bishop, 
editor and publisher, Huron; Christian Worker, Huron; The Herald, J. K. 
P. McCallum, editor and manager, Huron; Times, D. T. Hire, editor, 
Wessington; Journal, Carl D. Foster, editor and publisher, Wolsey. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

The city of Huron, near the center, is the county seat. It. has a popu- 
lation of 4,500; two brick school-buildings, valued at $40,000; methodist, 
presbyterian, baptist, congregational, catholic, German lutheran, Swedish, 
and episcopal, church edifices, valued at $20,500; brick court-house and 
jail, valued at $-30,000; street railway system., valued at $20,000; city water- 
works, (artesian,) valued at $40,000 ; electric-light plant, valued at $25,000 j 
oil-storage tanks, two flour-mills, pork-packing house, brewery, railroad 
shops, etc. Assessed valuation city property 1886, real, $840,590; per- 
sonal, $409,200; total, $1,249,790. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Altoona, in the north, population, 300; school-building, valued at $1,500; 
methodist and presbyterian church-buildings, valued at $4,000; city water- 
works, (artesian,) valued at $6,300. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, 
real and personal, $77,069. Broadland, between Huron and Altoona, pop- 
ulation, fifty; school- building, valued at $1,800. Cavour, in the east, pop- 
ulation, 240; school-building, valued at $1,500; methodist and catholic 
church buildings, valued at $8,200. Wessington. on the western boundary, 
population, 200; school- building, valued at $2,500; methodist and presby- 
terian church-buildings, valued at $1,300. Wolsey, between Huron and 
Wessington, population, 800; school-buildings, valued at $8,800; methodist, 
presbyterian, and German lutheran church-buildings, valued at $5,000. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, thirty-six; school population, 2,702; 
number of school-houses in district, 103; number of school- houses built 
in 1886, fourteen; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $86.08; females, 
$29.42; value of all school property, $81,795.86; expended for school pur- 
poses, during the year ending June 80, 1886, $48,924.20; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 80, 1886, $7,866.23; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing, June 80, 1886, $86,761.67; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding, June 80,1886, 
$9,827.58. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Date. 


Hordes. 


MU i^ na ^ttle. 


Sheep. Swine. 

i 


Valuation. 


1885 


4,357 
4.960 
5,494 


| 

392 6,728 
464 7,899 
4S8 9.659 


3,223 
2,s92 
2,832 


8,313 
3.678 
2,672 


$201,479 


1886 


606 -'25 


1887 


582. 91 n 










VALUATION STATISTICS. 


Date. 


Acres Real ! valuation 
Estate. Valuation. 


Town Lots Personal pr^p- 
Valuation. erty valuation 


Total assessed 
valuation of 

" county. 


1885 


410,449 $1,015,662 
480.227 2.352.931 


$ 328.876 
1 263 169 


$ 299.640 
1.259 207 


$1,815,627 


1886 


5.081.532 


1887 




459,811 


2,409,731 




1,226,172 




827,530 


5.046 343 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



321 



FAKM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in 
1885. 



Bushels in 
1887. 



Wheat none 611,197 1,253.200 

Corn 350 207.916 1, 240.800 

Oats none 393,768 930,000 

Rye none 2,616 7.800 

Buckwheat none 1,749 4,'428 

Barley : none 42,817 215,000 

Flax none 137,600 

COMPARATIVE STATISTICS, CENSUS 1880 AND 1885. 

Population of county, 1880,1,290; 1885, 10,318. Lands improved, 1880, 
thirty-seven acres; 1885, 135,834 acres. Number of farms, 1880, three; 
1885,1,823. Average size of farms, 1880, twelve acres; 1885, seventy-five 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $5.24. County indebt- 
edness, 1887, $59,390. Potato crop, 1885, 93,799 bushels^ Wool clip, 1885, 
29,946 pounds. Dairy and other farm prpducts, 1885: milk, 48,785 gallons; 
butter, 234,512 pounds; cheese, 843 pounds; eggs, 116,641 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFPICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk 


Marvin Cook 


Huron 


Treasurer 


James P. Davis 


Huron 


Sheriff 


J. E. Huffman 

Geo. W. Woodbury 


Huron 










Huron , 














Superintendent of Schools 


Cora M. Shober 


Huron 


Surveyor 


H. J. Bingham 

M. A. Collins 

G. F. Lawrence 

S. A. Mosht-r, (chairman) 

Z. T. Hundley 

A. H. Medbury 

C. S. Sprague 

1. L. Spaulding 


Huron 


Coroner 


Cavour 




Huron 


r 
i 


Wessing.on 

Huron 




Commissioners -{ 

j 


Huron 


Huron 


t 









LIST 


OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 


Altoona 

Beatrice 

Boiiilla 

Broadland 

Cavour 




... Earlville Virgil 

...Goodie Wessington 

...Huron Wiuthrop 

...Lakeside Wolsey 

... I Lawrence ; 



BENSON COUNTY 



Area, 564,480 acres. Created, March 9, 1883, from parts of Ramsey and De- 
Smet. Boundaries changed in 1885 between DeSmet and Ramsey ; changed 
again March 11, 1887. Organized, November 6, 1883, by appointment, by 
the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Hugh McGarvey, M. 
D. Flint, T. J. Larison. 

Benson county is situated in the northern part of the Territory, in the 
second tier of counties, south of the International boundary line and the 
third west of the Red River. Principal stream is the IShcyenne river. 
The west end of Devils Lake, the largest sheet of water within the Terri- 
tory, extends into Benson county about ten miles, covering more than a 
township of surface. There is a number of other lakes of considerable 
^size scattered through the county. About one- fifth of the area of the 
"county is included within the boundaries of the Devils Lake Indian reser- 

(11) 



322 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



vation. The surface of Benson county is, generally, undulating or rolling 
prairie, broken by a few low hills or ridges, nearly all of which is suscepti- 
ble of cultivation. The soil, a dark loam, is exceedingly productive. It 
varies in depth from eighteen to thirty inches, and is underlaid with a 
sub-soil of clay. Groves of native timber are found on the islands and 
along the borders of Devils Lake, and fringing the course of theSheyenne 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific (Jamestown and Northern 
line,) 17.9 miles; stations: Ft. Totten, Oberon, Minnewaukan. St. Paul, 
Minnepolis & Manitoba railroad, thirty-one miles; stations: Leeds. York, 
Knox,Tleasant Lake. Total miles of railroad, 48.9. 

Vacant public lands, 133,320 acres. 

BANKS. 

One bank does business in the county, viz.: Bank of Minnewaukan, 
at Minnewaukan, C. G. Rolfe. president; E. S. Rolfe, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Dakota Siftings, J. W. Sheppard. editor and publisher, Minnewaukan. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Minnewaukan, on the western shores of Devils Lake, is the county seat. 
It has a population of 400; school-buildings, valued at &2,500, and a pres- 
byterian church edifice, valued at 82,200. The town is not incorporated. 
schools,, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, seven; school population, 1,203; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, ten; average monthly pay of teachers, 
males, $38.89; females, <?22.87; value of all school property, §10,280; ex- 
pended for school purposes, during year ending June 30, 1886, $7,206.42; 
cash remaining in school treasury. June 30, 1880, $428.97; par amount of 
school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, §10,100; average rate of interest 
paid on bonds, eight per cent; amount of school warrants outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $697.34. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Valuation. 




FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in l Bushels in Bushels in 

1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat. 
Corn.... 
Oats.... 
Barley 
Flax... 



none 
none 
noiifc 
none 
none 



19 159 

112 

23,308 



946,000 

2,500 

420,000 

40,000 

2,000 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none ; 1885, 1,255. Lands improved, 1885, 12,- 
953 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 383. Average size of farms, 1885, thirty- 
four acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, 14.10. County in- 
debtedness, 1887, 145,445. Potato crop, 1885, 12,753 bushels. Wool clip 






RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 323 

sixty pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, forty gal- 
lons; butter, 7,516 pounds; cheese, seventy-five pounds;eggs, 1,786 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFIOERS IX 1887. 



Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



County Clerk 




J. M. Cubbison 

carl G. Brown 

Fred. Snore 


Minnewaukan 


urer 


Minnewaukan 


Sheriff 




clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 


.1. L. Richmond 

L. W. Harriman 

.1 M. Cubbison .' 

E S. Rolfe 


Minnewaukan 


Register of Deeds 

Attorney 


Minni waukan 


i intendent of Schools.... 
Surveyor 


1 


M F. Minehan 

V. B. Matthews 


Minnewaukan 

Oberon 


Coroner 

Assessor 

Ocmm ssioners 


o W Dysinger 

Geo, E. Ingebretsen 

.James Michels 

H. U. Thomas 


Minnewaukan 

Minnewaukan 




H. B. Pederson 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Abbot tsford Leeds Pleasant Lake. 

Fort Totten Minneyi acka n York 

Larose Obeion 



BILLINGS COUNTY. 



Created, February 10, 1879. from original territory. Boundaries changed, 
March 8, 1883, parts to Bowman and Villard; changed again, March 10, 
1885, parts of Villard and Dunn; changed again, March 10, 1887. Organ- 
ized, October 25, 188;!, by appointment, by the Governor, of the following 
commissioners, viz.: C.*E. Haupt, ('. A. Boyle, Hugh J. McBirney. 

Billings county is situated on the western boundary line, and nearly 
midway between the north ami south boundary lines of the Territory. 
It is well watered by numerous streams, the principal oi e of which, the 
Little Missouri, flows through the entire length of the county, from south 
to north. The famous Bad Lands, described in another part of this publi- 
cation, cover a large part of the surface of Billings county. The valleys 
and summits of the plateaus of the "Bad Lands," furnish pasturage for 
many herds oi range cattle. About one-half of the surface of Billings 
county is good farming land. Only a small part of the county has yet been 
surveyed. Lignite coal, of a very line quality, is found in the hills of the 
Bad Lands. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacitic, 59.5 miles; stations: Fry- 
burg, Sully Sprin us, Scoria, Medora, Little Missouri, Andrews, Sentinel 
Butte, Beach. Total, 59.5 miles. 

Vacant public lands, 1,240,000 acres. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Medora, on the east bank of the Little Missouri river, is the county 
seat. It has a school-building, valued at 8300, and a catholic church, val- 
ued at $500. The chief industry of the town is an establishment of the 
Marquis de Mores, for slaughtering beef, the manufacture of butter, tal- 
low, neatsfoot-oil, etc., representing an investment of $250,000. There is 
no town organization. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. | Horses. | M '25* B , ? ld Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Valuation. 

i ' i i 

1886 1,345 8 ' 24,603 15 $428,345 

1887 | 2,120 4 22,641 415,356 



324 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



Year. 



Acres Real* 
Estate 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



i Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1886. 

1887. 



none 
1,140,0(30 



none 
81,146,069 



$11,255 
9,880 



M [SCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1885, 7;>7. Lands improved, 1885, 157 acres. 
Number of farms, 1885, ten. Average size of farms. 1885, sixteen acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, SI. 00. The county has no in- 
debtedness. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICFRS IX 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk J. C Williamson Medora. 

Treasurer 'J. C. Fisher Medora. 



Sheriff 


P. A. Willard .. 

B. F. Lamb 

J. C. Williamson 

W. T. Dantz 


Medora 




Medora 




Medora 












::::::::::::::::::::::::.::::::::::::::::::: 




W. L. Eaton 

J. L. Truscott 


Medora 






Commissioners < 


John Goodall 

D C. Rowe 


::::::::::::::l::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 



LIST OF POSTOFFIOKS IX COUNTY, 1887. 



Medora | Sentinel Butte. 



BONHOMME COUNTY. 

Area, 891,680 acres. Created April 5, 1862. Organized 1862, by appoint- 
ment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Byron M. 
Smith, L. H. Litchfield, Henry Hartsough. 

Bonliomme county lies on the southern boundary of the Territory — the 
fourth county west of the Iowa line. Principal streams are the Choteau 
and Emanuel. The surface is considerably diversified, consisting of ex- 
tensive bottoms, prairie uplands, and, in the neighborhood of the streams, 
bluffs and broken country. There are fringes of timber, in places, along 
the Missouri and other streams, and some varieties are quite plentiful on 
the bottom lands of the great river. The soil is a rich, black loam, pro- 
ducing every variety of farm crops, in profusion. 

Miles of railroad in county : Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway, 
(Sioux City and Mitchell line,) eight miles; station: Scotland; (Scotland 
and Armour line,) three miles; station: Scotland; (Running Water branch,) 
thirty-three miles; stations: Scotland, Tyndall, Springfield, Running 
Water. Total miles of railroad, forty-four. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are four banks doing business in the county, as follows: Bank of 
Scotland, at Scotland, Geo. M. Gleason, president; T. O. Bogert, cashier. 
Bank of Springfield, at Springfield. Bank of Tyndall, at Tyndall. Secur- 
ity Bank of Tyndall, Joseph S. Wheeler, president; M.*P. McArthur, 
cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Scotland Weekly Citizen, J. E. Ziebach, editor and publisher, Scotland; 
South Dakota Investors' Guide, C. T. Campbell, publisher, Scotland; Pres- 
byterian Chronicle, Scotland; Times, Springfield; Tribune, McFarland 
& Young, publishers, Tyndall; Register, Francis Richmond, proprietor, 
Dennis & Smith, publishers, Tyndall. 



IJKSOruCES OF DAKOTA 



325 



COUNTY SE VT. 

The city of Tyndall, near the center, is the county seat, It has a popu- 
lation of 1,000; a school building valued at $1,200; methodist and presby- 
terian church edifices, valued at $3,000, and a coUrt-house valued at $7,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

BonHomme, on the Missouri river; population, seventy-five; school- 
building, valued at $600; methodist church-building, valued at $1,100; Hour- 
mill, valued at $6,000; and two saw-mills, valued at $5,000. Running Water, 
on tbe Missouri river; population, 150; school-buildings, valued at $2,000; 
catholic church -building, valued at $1,300. Springfield, on the Missouri 
river; population, 500; brick school-building, valued at $2,500; episcopal, 
catholic, congregational, and methodist church edifices, valued at $7,000; 
flour-mill, valued at $20,000; creamery, manufacturing 500 pounds of but- 
ter daily. Assessed valuation of city property, 1880, real, $58,614: per- 
705; total, $91 ? 3 19. Hope Indian school, a building valued at 
$12,000, is located at Springfield. Scotland, in the northeast; population 
1,000; two school-buildings; presbyterian, congregational, German luth- 
eran, German evangelical, catholic, episcopal, and methodist church edi- 
fices, valued at $10,600; artesian water; machine-shops id door fac- 
tory; tow-mill, and a creamery of the capacity of 7,000 pounds of butter 
< k. Assessed valuation of city property, 1S86, real and personal' 
$335,000. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, twelve; school population, 1,980; num- 
her of school-houses in district, fifty-one; number of school-houses built 
in 1886, one; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $34.18; females 
$31.01 ; value of all school property, $12,915.21; expended for school purposes 
during year ending June 30, 1886, $24,932.71; cash remaining in school 
treasury, June 30, 1886, $2,399.44; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $15,950.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, seven per 
cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1880, $2,921.75. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 


2,481 
3.456 
8,940 
5, 180 


81 

97 

55 

160 


6.962 
10,167 
11 943 
18,831 


2,302 
7,177 
4,899 
4,:-J68 


4.366 
8.615 
6,452 
9.658 


* 


-4 01 


* 291,684 
261.850 
829,485 



lTION statistics. 



Year. 



Acres rleal 



Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- Toi& } assessed 
j erty va luation.., ™i™£ on of 



1880 
1885 



1887 

* 1880, pc 



217 'J:*r> 
262.077 
285,057 



344,218 

891,129 

1,231,927 

1,315,977 



145,860 
203.236 
220,544 



9 255,981 
241,082 
280,346 
301,420 



« 600.199 
1,569 755 
1 977.359 
2,167,426 



rsoiial property includes live stock. 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in countv,for years 1880 
1885. and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in 
18S5. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Kye 

Buckwheat 

Barley 

Flax 

v 



122,048 
140.079 
123,777 
2,449 
none 
22 542 
none 



64.838 

417.933 

296.568 

3,145 

215 

2,568 



Bushels in 
1887. 



100,000 

1,076,660 

412,500 

4,088 

1,134 

2 795 

56,560 



326 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of c*unty, 1870, >,468; 1885, 7,44w. Landi 

proved, 1880, 48,914 acres; 1885, 7(5,811 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 8G2; 
1885, 953. Average size of farms, 1880, fifty- seven acres; 1885; eighty-one 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887. $4.62. Count v indebt- 
edness, 1887, $21,017. Potato crop, 1885, 23,529 bushels. Wool clip 
82,915 pounds. Dairy and other form products, 1885: milk, 2,474 gallons; 
butter, 243,494 pounds; cheese, 955 pounds; e*gs, 187,031 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFPICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address.. 

I 



Countv Clerk Joseph Zitka Tyndall 

Treasurer Paul Landmann Tyndall 

Sheriff John R Petri e Tyndall 

Clerk District Court Chas. H. StilwiU Tyndall 

Probate Judge W. T. Williams Tyndall 

Register oi' Deeds Joseph Zitka Tyndall 

Attorney James I). Elliott Tyndall 

Superintendent of Schools Francis Richmond Tyndall 

Surveyor B. E. Wood Springfield... 

Coroner Dr. O. Richmond Tyndall 

Assessor ±. C. Haney Tyndall 

f E. J. Monfore, (chairman) S ri 

j James P. Cooler Bm Homme. 

Commissioners i Phiheas Crandall Loretta 

I T. H. Abbott Tyndall 

[ W. E. Barawell Scotland 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887, 



Avon Loretta Tabor 

BonHomme Myrtle ■ Tynd li. 

Choteau Creek Running Water Wanari.., 

Dalystown Scotland Worms.... 

Hawlejek Springfield 



BO REMAN COUNTY 



Created, January 8, 1873, from original territory. Unorganized. 
Boreman county is contained within the boundaries of the Great Sioux 
Indian reservation. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY , IN 1887. _ 

Fort Yates. 



BOTTINEAU COUNTY 



Area, 852,480 acres. Created January 4, 1873. Boundaries changed, 

1883, part toWynn; changed again, March 11, 1887. Organized, May 13, 

1884, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following com- 
missioners, viz.: William F. Simerall, Albert C. Barnes, Lorenzo D. Dana. 

Bottineau county lies on the northern boundary line, half-way between 
the east and west boundaries of the Territory. Principal stream is the 
Mouse, which flows, in a northwesterly direction, through the entire width, 
of the county. A great number of lakes and ponds of every size, from a 
few rods in diameter to several miles in length, are scattered over the 
Turtle Mountains, and in the eastern part ot Bottineau county. Timber 
grows along the banks of the Mouse river, as, also, on the mountains, or 
hills, before mentioned. The surface is gentl} r rolling in character, with 
the exception of the Turtle Mountains, only a part of which are in this 
county. These mountains, or, rather, hills, vary in height from 200 to 700 
feet, and cover, altogether, in Bottineau and Rolette counties, an area 
about forty miles long by about twenty to thirty broad. The soil of the 



RESOUECES OF DAKOTA 



327 



county is a rich, black loam, with an underlying sub-soil of clay. Lignite 
coal is found in Bottineau county, along the Mouse ri^er. A good quality 
of brick and potter's clay is also found. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad, 
(Bottineau and Rugby Junction line,) twenty-one miles; stations: Willow 
City, Bottineau. 

Vacant public lands, 12,320 acres. 

BANKS. 

One bank does business in the county, viz: Bottineau County Bank, at 
Bottineau. E. A. Harmon, president; M. S. Harmon, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Pioneer, Noble & Bennett, editors and publishers, Bottineau; Free 
Lance, Bottineau Publishing Co., publishers, Bottineau; Dakota Eagle, 
Jacob P. Hagar, editor and publisher, McKae. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Bottineau, near the center, is the county seat. It has a popula'ion of 
350; school-house, of the value of $1,400. Presbyterian and baptist 
church-buildings, to cost $2,500, under construction. The town is but a 
few months old, and is not incorporated. 

schools, (statistics 18 G.) 

Number of organized townships, live; school population, 194; number of 
school-houses in district, two; number of school-houses built in 1886, one; 
average monthly pay of teachers, males, $35.00; females, $25.00; value of all 
school property", $485.05; expended for school purposes during year end- 
ind June 30, 1886, 8912.31 ; cash remaining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, 
$138,89: paramount of school bonds outstanding June 30,1886,8400; aver- 
age rate of interest paid on bonds, eight per cent.; amount of school war- 
rants outstanding June 30, 1883, $91.48. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Swine. 




Valuation. 



1885 134 21 1,727 217 125 $39,702 

1886 216 24 1,926 124 183 60,685 

1887!!".'.'.^ 415 ; 17 1,220 483 75,462 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 

I Acres Real"" Valliatl<m Town Lots Personal Prop-| ^Ltf o^f 

^ ear - j Estate. , valuation. valuation, eriy valuation. county 

18 85 120 S 600 S 850 >,512 $ 66,664 

18S6 5,134 15.397 29,749 105,831 

1887'.'.'. • 16,895 1 64 374 j 48,808 188 699 

FARM STATISTICS. . 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, an d 1887 . 

Bushels in Bushels in Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 





none 
none 
71 one 
none 
none 
none 


8,016 

139 

10,322 


149,079 
680 






126 672 




52 




1,644 

none 


6 912 


Flax 


140 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 818 .Lands improved, 1885, 7,215 
acres. Number of farms, 18S5, 261. Average size of farms, 1885, twenty-eight 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, 83.81. Count v indebt- 
edness, 1887, 88,457. Potato crop, 1885, 5,569 bushels. Wool-clip, 1885, 
2,554 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: butter, 12,030 pounds; 
cheese, 100 pounds;' eggs, 5,251 dozen. 



328 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



County Clerk 

Treasurer 

sheriff. 

Clerk District Court 

Probate Judjie 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools. 

Surveyor 

Coroner 

Assessor 



Commissioners. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Geo. J. Coulthard.. 
Peter B,. Ferguson. 

P. J. Ferguson 

John W. Bennett..., 

A. Thompson 

Geo. J. (oulihard.. 

Virgil B. Noble 

Fred W. Cathro 

Ole Hornimann 

Alex. Maclav 

Geo. H. Weed 

Ezra Turner 

Levi Mellon 

Jas. W. Greiner 

Lewis Biunelle 

James Cudhie 



Bottineau.., 
Bottineau.., 
Bottineau... 
Bottineau- 
Bottineau.. 
Bottineau.. 
Bott ; neau.. 
Bottineau.. 
Bottineau.. 
Bottineau.. 
Lordsburg. 
Bottineau.. 
Bottineau . 
Bottineau . 

Tarsus 

McRae 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



BOTTINEAU. 



.Lordsburg McKae. 



.Tarsus. 



BOWMAN COUNTY. 



Created, March 8, 1883, from part of Billings. Unorganized. 

Bowman county ]ies on the western boundary of the Territory, just 
north of the 46th parallel. No Government surveys have yet been made 
in the county. 

Vacant public lands, 337,920 acres. 

Population of county, 1S85, 162. 



BROOKINGS COUNTY. 

Area, 518,400 acres. Created April 5, 1862. Boundaries changed, Jan- 
uary 31, 1871, part oi Hanson; changed again January 8, 1873, parts to 
Lake and Moody. Organized January 31, 1871; Martin Trygstadt, L. M. 
He whit, Elias Thompson, appointed commissioners, and Medary desig- 
nated as county seat, by act of Legislature. 

Brookings county is situated in the southeastern part of the Territory, in 
the first tier of counties west of the Minnesota line, and the fifth county 
north of the Nebraska boundary. Principal streams are the Big Sioux, 
which flows through the county from north to south, and its feeders, 
the Medary, Six Mile, and Deer creeks. Principal lakes, Poinsett, Te- 
tonka, Hendricks, Sinai, and Oak. Native timber grows along the Big Sioux, 
and around lakes Tetonka and Hendricks. Surface, rolling prairie. Soil, 
a black, vegetable loam, from one to four feet deep, with clay sub- soil. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern railway, (main 
line,) thirty-five miles; stations: Elkton, Aurora, Brookings", Volga; 
(Watertown & Brookings branch,) fifteen miles; stations: Brookings, 
Bruce. Total, fifty miles. Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern, (main 
line,) twenty-eight miles; stations: White, Bushnell, Elkton. Total 
miles of railroad in county, seventy-eight. 

Vacant public lands, 1,865 acres. 

HANKS. 

There are nine banks doing business in the county, as follows: Bank 
of Aurora, at Aurora, J. H. Kelsey, president; B." J. Kelsey, cashier. 
Banking house of C. S. Ricker, at Aurora. Bank of Brookings, at Brook- 
ings, W. H. Morehouse, president; Geo. Morehouse, cashier. First Na- 
tional Bank, at Brookings, T. L. FishLack, president; Horace Fishback, 
cashier. Merchants Bank, at Brookings, Thomas Oldham, president; R. 
S. Lyon, cashier. Citizens' Bank, at Elkton, H. S. Murphy, president; 
E. F" Onstine, cashier. Bank of Volga, at Volga, Win. Fisher, president; 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



'6-29 



Charles F. Eager, cashier. Merchants' Bank, at Volga. Citizens' Ex- 
change Bank, at White, E. C. Holden, president; N. H. Holden, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Times, H. S. Murphy, editor and publisher, Aurora; Brookings County 
Sentinel, Whiting Bros., editors and publishers, Brookings; Brookings 
County Press, G. W. TIopp, editor and publisher, Brookings; Record, J. 
L. Pratt, publisher, Elkton; Tribune, Thomas. VV. Bishop, editor and pub- 
lisher, Volga. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

The city of Brookings, a few miles south of the center, is the county 
seat. It has a population of 1,500; school-buildings of the value of §4,000; 
presbyterian, baptist, methodist, Lutheran, Norwegian, and catholic church 
edifices, valued at §12,000; court-house, valued at $8,000: city-hall, valued 
at $2,000; flour-mill, valued at §25,000; creamery, valued at §5,000; flax- 
mill, valued at $1,000; brick- yard, etc. Artesian well contracted for. The 
Dakota Agricultural college is located at Brookings. For a description or 
the college, see page 197 of this publication. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Aurora, a few miles southeast of Brookings; population, 400; two-story 
school building, valued at §2,000; methodist church-building, valued at 
$1,500; cheese factory ; flour-mill, valued at §10,000. Elkton, in the ex- 
treme southeast; population, 600; school-building, valued at §2,500; baptist 
and catholic church-buildings, valued at §2,000; shirt factory, valued at 
§4,000. Assessed valuation of city property, 1886, real, $45,000; personal, 
§25,000; total, §70,000. Volga, west of Brookings; population, 5<KJ, school- 
building, valued at §2,500; presbyterian and congregational church-build- 
ings, valued at §3,500; jail and engine house; fiour-mill, valued at §10,000. 
White, in the northeast; population, 200; school-building, valued at §2,500; 
methodist and presbyterian church-buildings, valued at §4,500; a §10,000 
flour- mill contracted for. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, twenty-six; school population, 2,313; 
number of school houses in district, eighty-nine; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, six; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $31.60; females, 
§26.00; value of all school property, §40,483.00; expended for school purposes 
during year ending June 30, 1886, §35,915.10; cash remaining in school 
treasury, June 30. 1883, §7,473.17; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 30, 1886, §43,975.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, nine per 
cent.; amount of school warrants ou standing June 3D, 1883, §1,676.72. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



jMules and 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1880 

188.") 
188G 
1887 



1,164 

4.019 
4,651 
5,214 



97 
211 
199 
182 



3 486 

7,774 

9,283 

11,101 



759 

8.172 
8 619 
3,181 



950 
4.880 
3 807 
2,179 



267 182 
405.488 
429,568 



Year. 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Pro;). 
erty valuation 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



• 
1880 




. '$ 51.867 

654.684 

1.105 969 

1,266.867 




*5 208 145 

244.409 
395.612 


$ 260. 012 


1885 1 
1886 

1887 


274.979 
293.511 
340.^ 


$ 116.860 
240 822 
236.337 


1 283.1 85 
2.147.921 

2,296.11(1 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 



330 RESOURCES OE DAKOTA. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in , Bushels in ' Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat 


77 616 


831,707 
51790 

690.977 
3.191 
2,969 

157,082 


810,000 

144.000 

742.000 

5,000 


Corn 

Oats 

Rye 


13.625 

75.456 

110 






5,250 


Barlev 

Flax 


9.672 

none 


208,fe00 

150.000 









MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1870. 1(33; 1880. 4,905; 1885, 8,288. Lands improved, 
1880, 31,254 acres; 1885, 155,550 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 729; 1885, 
1,472. Average size of farms, 1880, forty three acres; 1885, 100 acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, 83.71. County indebted- 
ness, 1887, $7,2<i5. . Potato crop, 1885, 51,040 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 
19,327 pounds. Daily and other farm products, 1885: butter, 206,017 
pounds; cheese, 695 pounds; eggs, 150,837 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IX 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. O. Address. 




W. H. Cornell 

Wm. Nicholson 

Peter Balgord 






Brookings 


Sheriff 


Volga 


Clerk District Court 


Lonis Patnaud 


brool i'i'-i'- 


Register of Deeds 


Burre H. Lein 

J. O'. Andrews 






Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 


O. H. Parker 

J. A. Hegemann 


Brookings 

Brookings 



Coroner Dr. M. B Mattice, Elkton 

Thos. R. Qualev, (chairman) Brookings. 

| I. Atkinson White 

Commissioners -; E. A Kinney Estelline,.. 

j Martin Stumley Volga 

! M. E. Donohoe Aurora 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IX COUNTY, 1887. 



Argo Bushnell Prairie Farm 

Aurora Elkton Volga 

Brookings Laketon White 

Bruce Oak wood 



BROWN COUNTY 



Area, 1,105, 920 acres. Created, February 22, 1879. from parts of Beadle and 
Mills. Organized, July 20, 1880, by appointment, by the Governor, of the 
following commissioners, -viz.: John R. James, Don. C. McKenzie, 
Clarence D. Johnson. 

Brown, a James river valley county, is situated just south of the 40th 
parallel, and midway between the Missouri river and the Minnesota state 
line. Principal streams are the James, which winds in a southerly direc- 
tion through the county, dividing it into two nearly equal parts; the 
Maple, the Elm rivers, and Willow, Moccasin, Foot, and Mud creeks. Lake 
Columbia is a sheet of water about a mile in width. There are several 
smaller lakes scattered over the county. Some timber is found, at inter- 
vals, along the banks of the James. Surface, a rolling prairie and river 
valley. Soil, a rich loam. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 331 

Miles of railroad incounty: Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railway, 
(mainline,) thirty-seven miles; stations: Groton, Bath, Aberdeen; (James 
River line,) forty-eii*ht miles; stations: Warner, Aberdeen, Westport, 
Frederick. Total, eighty-five miles. Chicago & Northwestern railway, 
(Huron-Oakes line,) fifty-five miles; stations: Rudolph, Aberdeen, Ord- 
way, Columbia, Houghton, Hecla; (Doland extension,) eighteen miles; sta- 
tions: Ferney, Verndon and Groton. Total, seventy-three miles. St. Paul, 
Minneapolis^ Manitoba railroad, (Aberdeen-Rutland line,) twenty four 
miles; stations: Aberdeen, Hadley, Putney, Huffton, Claremont. Total 
miles of railroad in county, 182. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are eleven banks doing business in the county, as follows: Aber- 
deen National Bank, at Aberdeen, J. T. McChesney, president; Robert 
Moody, cashier. First National Bank, at Aberdeen, S. H. Jumper, presi- 
dent; G. L. Cadwell, Jr., cashier. Hagerty & Marple, at Aberdeen. 
P>ank of Claremont, at Claremont, F. H. Hagerty, president; R. A. Mather, 
cashier. Bank of Columbia, at Columbia, Wm. Davidson', president. 
First National Bank, at Columbia, II. C. Sessions, president; ('. A. Baker, 
cashier. Loomis & Corry,at Columbia. Bank of Frederick, at Frederick, 
F. II. Magerty, president; J. C. Simmons, cashier. Bank of Groton, at 
Groton, L. II. Neif, cashier. Farmers' Bank, at Groton, F. D. Adams, 
president; IT. S. West, cashier. Bank of Westport, at Westport, C. B. 
Shouse, president. 

NEWSPAPERS'. 

Republican, C. B. Barrett, editor and publisher, Aberdeen; Dakota 
Pioneer, John H. Drake, editor and publisher, Aberdeen; Daily News, 
Starling & Torrey,editorsand publishers, Aberdeen ; Dakota Catholic Amer- 
ican, Rev. Father Hair, editor, P. P. Orth, manager, Aberdeen ; Dakota 
Prohibitionist, F. IT. Shoals & E. R. Yallandingham, editors, Aberdeen; 
The Observer, W. A. Moore & C. J. C. McLeod, editors and publishers, 
Aberdeen; The Gazette, W. C. Allen, editor and publisher, Claremont; 
Dispatch and Tribune, C. S. Baxter, publisher, Columbia; Brown County 
Sentinel, (lias. E. Baldwin, editor, Columbia; Free Press, W. W. Wilson, 
editor, Detroit; Free Press, R. E. and F. .7. Kenyon, editors and publish- 
ers, Frederick; Mirror, E. L. Spehce, editor and publisher, Frederick; 
Independent, Reeves & Cole, publishers, Groton; Leader, M. V. B. Scrib- 
ner, editor, Groton; Sun, C. J. C. McLeod, editor, Warner; Volcano, W. 
S. Baxter, editor- nd publisher, Hecla; Messenger, Ezra Elliot, publisher, 
Putney. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Aberdeen, south and west of the center, is the county seat. It has a 
population of 5,000; brick school-buildings, valued at $18,000; baptist, 
methodist, presbyterian, and catholic church edifices, valued at $25,000; 
court-house; engine-house; fifteen stall round-house; water-works (arte- 
sian,) valued at $25,000; electric light plant, valued at $12,000; creamery; 
flour-mill; plow factory and spark-arrester manufactory — together, valued 
at $100,000. Assessed valuation city property, Si ,080,450. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Bath, east of Aberdeen; population 150; school-building, valued at $2,000; 

methodist church-building, valued at $2,500. Claremont, on the eastern 
boundary; population, 300: two grain elevators; flour-mill in prospect. 
Columbia, on the James river ; population 1,0»)0; school-buildings, valued 
at $5,000; congregational, baptist, catholic, andlutheran church edifices, 
valued at $7,600; water-works (artesian) system, valued at $9,000 ; flour- 
mill, valued at $18,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1880, real, 
$80,530; personal, $80,720; total, $1(51,250. Detroit*, in the northeast; popu- 
lation, fifty ; school-building, valued at $700; methodist church-building, 
valued at $1,200. Frederick, in the northwest; population, 450, school- 
buildinu', valued at $1,400; methodist and catholic church edifices, valued 
at $3,000; flour-mill, valued at $23,000. Assessed valuati.on city property, 
1880, real, $(50,000; personal, $50,000; total, $110,000. Groton, in the east, 
population, 700; school-building, valued at $3,500; presbyterian and epis- 



332 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



copal church-buildings, valued at $4,000; water-works (artesian) svstem, 
valued at $8,000; flour-mill, valued at $30,000; Groton college wit ribuild- 

ings, valued at $10,000. Assessed valuation city propertv, 1880, real, 
$140,675; personal, $82,345, total, 1223,020. Ordvvay, on the James river, 
near the center of the county; population, 300; school-buildings, valued at 
$4,000; creamery; grain elevator, etc. Warner, in the south; population, 
200; school-building, valued at $2,000; methodist church-building, valued 
at $1,800, and four grain elevators. Assessed valuation city propertv, 
1886, $60,d00. Westport, north of Aberdeen; population, 100; school-build- 
ing valued at $1,500. Assessed valuation city property, 1880, $15,000. Huff- 
toii, in ihe east; population, 100; church edifice, valued at $1,500; grain 
elevators, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 18S6.) 

Number of organized townships, sixteen; school population, 3,155: num- 
ber of school-houses in district, 12G; number of school-houses built in 
1880, nineteen; average monthly pay of teachers, males, 635.05; females, 
$29.04; value' of all school property, $114,656.98; expended for school pur- 
poses during j-ear ending June 30, 1886, $51,520.89; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1880, $13,409.10; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $100,500.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$4,700.42 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



5,240 

7.o<\2 
8,832 



531 
572 
512 



6.213 
7,985 

10,060 



2,864 
1,939 



1.599 
2,936 
2 575 



Valuation. 



$ 413.962 
467,502 
874.700 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



iPersona-Prop,^-^ 
erty valuation. ™g£ on 



1885 
1886 
1887 



561.498 
592 569 

628,936 



$1,617,505 

2 080.068 
3,441 930 



$ 429.464 

481.882 
1,441,885 



$ 609.369 ! $3,070,300 

705 936 I 3 735 488 

1,404,218 7,162,763 



FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 
18S0. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bush. Is in 
1887.. 


Wheat 

Corn 


21 
100 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


1.807.801 

169,072 

858,413 

107 

1,210 

58,667 


4,009 887 
585 900 


Oats 


2,773,164 

6 460 

none 

470.680 

107,004 


Rye 


Buckwheat 

Barley 

Flax.! 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 353; 1885, 12,241. Lands improved, 1880, 
468 acres; 18S5, 248,346 acres. Number of farms, 1880, twenty-eight; 1885, 
2,438. Average size of farms, 1880, seventeen acres; 1885, 102 acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1886. $3.51. The county has no in- 
debtedness. Potato crop, 1885, 140,701 bushels. Wool clip, 1885,6,632 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 60,400 gallons; butter, 
24/, 458 pounds; cheese, 470 pounds; eggs, 113,402 dozen. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AM) POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor S. C. Hedger Columbia 

Treasurer |H. S Williams [Columbia . 

Sheriff I James L Cherry Aberdeen. 

Clerk District Court E. K. Lodewiefe Columbia. 

Probate Judge J. R. Beebe Columbia. 

Register of Deeds ;J. A. Houlahan Columbia. 

Attorney James Wells Columbia. 

Superintendent of Schools C. J. <\ McLeod Columbia. 

Surveyor A. J. Pierce Aberdeen. 

Coroner W. J. Evans Groton 

| C. W. Swift Aberdeen. 

| W. I. Steere Randell.... 

Commissioners -{ E. J. Mather .Groton 

I Fred B. Smith Hecla 

I II. Barna'd Frederick. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 


Aberdeen 

Amherst 

Bath 


1 

Gem 

Groton 

Hecla 

Houghton 

Hwffton 

Mansfield 

Murray 

Ordway 

Plana 


Putnev 

Randell 

Rudolph 


Columbia 


Santa Clara 


Claremout 

Detroit 


Verdon 


Dodge 

Ferney 

Frederick 


West'port 



BRULE COUNTY. 



Area, 537,600 acres. Created. January 14, 1875, from part of Buffalo. 
The boundaries were changed March 9, 1883, part from Buffalo. The 
county was organized, January 14, 1875, by act of Legislature ; H. M. Leedy, 
George Trimmer, and James Blacketor appointed commissioners, 
and Brule City designated as county seat. In January, 1875, President 
Grant issued a proclamation, declaring certain portions of this county as 
still constituting part of the Indian lands, and warning settlers to vacate. 
The lands were again opened to settlement, August 9, 1879, by an Execu- 
tive order of President Mayes, and, on September 8, 1879, the Governor 
reorganized the county, by the appointment of the following commission- 
ers, viz.: Marvin 11. Somers, Fred C. Livermore, and Arthur C. Van Meter. 

Brule coumy is situated in the southern part of the Territory, on the 
east bank of the Missouri river, and is the second county north of the Ne- 
braska boundary. Principal streams are the Missouri, forming the west- 
ern boundary of the county; and Smith and American creeks. Red Lake, 
not far from the center of the county, is a sheet of water about twelve 
miles long by six wide. A number of smaller lakes and ponds are dis- 
tributed over the county. Timber grows along the banks of the Missouri, 
and on American island — quite a large island — in the channel of the Mis- 
souri, opposite the city of Chamberlain. The surface-is a broad prairie, 
broken by the bluffs along the Missouri river, and Bijou Hills covering 
an area of eight or ten square miles in the southwestern portion of the 
county. Soil, a deep, rich, loam. The Winnebago Indian, reservation 
covers about tour of the northwestern townships. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(main line,) twenty-nine miles; stations: Kimball, Pukwana, Chamber- 
lain, Plainheld. 

Vacant public lands, 9.(500 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are six hanks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Bijou Hills, Bijou Hills; Brule Cottnty Bank, Chamberlain, A. G. Kellam, 
president: E. YY~. Skerry, cashier. First National Bank, at Chamberlain, 



531 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



I). H. Henry, president; Patrick Henry, cashier. Farmers' and Traders' 
Bank, at Kimball, H. E. Gates, president; L. A. Foote. cashier. Henry 
& Case, at Kimball, I). II. Henry, president; A. 0. Whitbeck, cashier. 
Bank of Pukwana, at Pukwana, E. B. Taft, president; W. M. Pratt, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Times, J. R. Lowe, editor and publisher, Bijou Hills; Dakota Democrat, 
Dan F. Burkholder, publisher. Chamberlain; The Register, G. R. Owen, 
editor and publisher, Chamberlain; Index, W. L. Thorndyke, publisher, 
Kimball; Brule Real Estate Journal, C. D. Savage, editor and publisher, 

Kimball; The Graphic, C. R. Tinan, publisher, Kimball; The Press, R. E. 
Shipley, editor and publisher, Pukwana. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

The city of Chamberlain, on the Missouri liver, is the county seat. It 
has a population of 1,51)0; school-buildings; congregational and baptist 
church-edifices; water-works system, valued at $25,000; opera-house, val- 
ued at $15,000 ; Hour-mill, valued at $25,001 >; county jail; machine shops, etc. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Kimball, east of the center, population, 1,000; school-buildings, valued 
100; methodist, catholic, and presbyterian church edifices, valued at 
$12,000; water works (artesian,) system, valued at $8,000; flour-mill, val- 
ued at $18,000; assessed valuation of city, 1880, real, $138,000; personal, 
875.000; total. $213,000. Pukwana, between Chamberlain and Kimball, 
population, 500; school-building, valued at 84,0(>0; methodist, congrega- 
tional, and lutheran church-edifices; assessed valuation, 1880. real, $50,000; 
personal, 820,000: total, $70,0000. 

schools, (statistics 188G.) 

Number of organized townships, twenty; school population, 1,773; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, seventy-five; number of school- houses 
built in 1886, live; average monthly pay of teachers, males, 828.50; females, 
§28.08; value of all school property, $16,127.85; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 188(5, $25,692.98; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1880. $2,909.73; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 188(5, 841,150: amount of school variants outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $5,556.32. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Hordes. 



Mules and 
Asses. 



attle. 



jheep. 



Valuation. 



1880 


1SS 


11 


677 


1SS5 


3,108 


187 


5 383 


1886 


3,432 


181 


6 656 


1887 


P,158 


177 


7,538 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



562 
453 
586 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Valuation. 



3.024 
2 678 
2,135 



$163,348 

175.459 

19(3.291 



Town Lots 

valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
coiintv. 



1880 
1885 

1886 
18S7 



168.817 

is,; 890 

. 



8 42 056 

511.347 
517 910 
625 237 



sis;;. 61D 
212,521 
22;;.2su 



$ 20 027 

1117,579 
174.330 
123.271 



s 62,083 
1,028.884 
1.110.220 
1,168.081 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880. 

1885, and 1887. 



Bush Is in 

1S80. 



Bushels in Bushels in 
1885. 1887. 



Wheat none 

Corn 3 370 

Oats none 

Rye none 

Buckwheat ' none 

Barley none 

Flax none 



264 550 


385,000 


170.836 


905,976 


247.445 


381,316 


1,242 


6,000 


702 


750 


9,987 


40 .",26 




51,660 







RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 335 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 238; 1885. 7,524 Lauds improved, 1880, 
2,052 acres; 1885, 71,411 acres. Number of farms, 1880, seventy-five; 1885, 
1,226. Average si/e of farms, 1880, twenty-seven acres; 1885, fifty-eight 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.08. County indebt- 
edness, 1887, $22,807. Potato crop, 1885, 80,710 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 
4,548 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 08,548 gallons; 
butter, 87,695 pounds; cheese, 1,788 pounds; eggs, 04,941 do/en. 

NAME AND PQSTO FFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



County Clerk 


J. W. Orcutt 


Chamberlain 


■i. E. Jenkins 

E. P. Ochsner 

D. W. Spalding 

W. (\ Gravbill 

J. VV. Orcutt 




Sheriff.. 


Kimball 


Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 


Chamberlain 

Chamberlain 




J. 4. Stroube 

Alice J. Sanborn 

RcottHaves 

J. C. Hollinger 

Albert Peterson 

E. VV. Skeiry 




Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 

Coroner 


Pukwana -. 

Chamberlain 

Kimball , 


r 
i 


Chamberlain 




C M Austin 






L. S. House 




i 


Kimball 









LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Bijou Hills Kirkwood 

Chamberlain LvonvMe 

Coyle jOla 

Dunlap iPlainfield. 

Kimball Ployd 



BUFFALO COUNTY. 



Area, 209.520 acres. As created originally, January 6, 1864, Buffalo 
county contained within its boundaries, nearly all of Dakota outside of a 
few coun ties in the southeast. Its boundaries were changed January 18, 
1871, and, by the same act of the Legislature, the county was organized 
by the naming of Henry Waller, John Beeves, and George Choteau, 
county commissioners. The area of this county has been reduced, from 
time to time, by numerous acts of the Legislature, namely: January 8, 
1878, January 10, 1873, and March 9, 1888. Buffalo county, as now bounded, 
was organized, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following 
commisioners, viz.: Chas. A. Osman, John Finencane and J. P. Cleve- 
land. 

Buffalo county lies on the east bank of the Missouri river, — the third 
county north of the Nebraska state line. Principal streams are the 
Missouri river, the western boundary of the county, and its affluents. Sol- 
dier. Crow, Campbell, and Elm creeks Box Elder is a tributary of Crow 
creek. Considerable native timber grows along the Missouri river and 
the smaller streams. Surface, roughly rolling in the western pait, adja- 
cent to the river; in the eastern part, prairie. Soil, a rich black loam, 
with a sub-soil of yellowish, clayey, marl. The greater part of the county 
is included within the boundaries of the Winnebago Indian reservation. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

"COUNTY SEAT. 

Gann Valley, in the east, is the county scat. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, five; school population, 200; number 
of school-houses in district, three; number oi school-houses built in 1880, 



336 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



three ; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $21.67; females, $21.70; 
value of all school property, $205.83; expended for school purposes during 
year ending June 30, 1886, $1,421.52; cash remaining in school treasury, 
June 30, 1838, $231.33; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $149.85. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Hordes. 



Mules and! 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



426 
419 
486 



773 
1,014 
1,024 



40 
313 
164 



327 
381 
273 



28,472 
38,849 

89,2-15 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



A r aluation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



I Personal Pr >p 
erty valuation 



I Total assessed 
valuation oi 
i county. 



1885 20,860 $ 58,354 $ 20,866 j $ 107.692 

1886 32 182 82,670 I * 673 22,438 144. 630 

1887 41,67 6 103.055 | 655 \ 21091 164.046 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 

1885, and 1887. __ _ 

Bushels in Bushels in I Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 

. ^ 

Wheat 240 4,436 45,900 

Corn 430 12.133 67,149 

Oats 600 5,608 58,680 

Rye none none 1612 

Buckwheat none 20 300 

Barky none 80 7,125 

Flax. none 20,420 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of comitv, 1S80, pixtv-three; 1885, 864. Lands improved, 
1880, 122 acres; 1885, 8.305 acres. 'Number of farms, 1880. two; 1885, 247. 
Average size of farms, 18S0, sixtv one acres; 1885, thirty-four acres. Aver- 
age assessed valuition per acre, 1887, §2.47. County indebtedness, 18S7, 
$2,600. Potato crop, 1885, 3,217 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 128 pounds. 
Dairy products, 1885: butter. 2,260 pounds. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk A. H. Orvis Buffalo Center. 

Treasurer Wm. J. Hughes 'Buffalo Center.. 

Sheriff. Stillman Moultou Gann Valley.... 

clerk District Court John A. Kyle Buffalo Center.. 



Probate Judge IS. K. King 

Register of Deeds A. H. Orv 

Attorney 



Superintendent oi Schools Harry McCrady. 

Surveyor Hugh Donahue. 



Buffalo Center.. 
Buffalo Center.. 



Duncan 

Waterbuiy, Jerauld 

County 

Coroner A. J. Woolcdge Eldorado 

Assessor Samuel Robb Duncan 

f Lloyd Thorn, (chairman) Waterbury, Jerauld 

Commissioners i „ T .,. ,. tounty 

| Henry Klmdt Duncan 

[ A/L. VanBuskirk [Eldorado 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IX COUNTY, 1887. 



Buffalo Center Eldorado : Richards. 

Crow Creek Uann ValLky Vega 

Duncan : Lougland 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 337 

BUFORD COUNTY. 



Created, March 8, 1883, from part of Wallette. Unorganized. 

Buford county is situated in the extreme northwestern part of the 
Territory. Principal streams are the Missouri river, the southern boun- 
dary of the county, and Muddy, and Sandy creeks. A portion of the Fort 
Buford military reservation lies within Buford county. The lands of 
Buford county are unsurveyed as yet. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba rail- 
wav, thirty miles; stations: Williston, (Little Muddy,) Siding 20, Fort 
Buford. 

Vacant public lands, 934,400 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Beacon, McGahon & Wilson, editors and publishers, Williston. 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1885, 524. Lands improved, 1885, 2,930 acres. 
Number of farms, 1885, sixteen. Average size of farms, 1885, 183 acres. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Fort Bufurd [ Williston 



BURDICK COUNTY. 



Created, March 8, 1883, from part of Harding county. Unorganized. 
Burdick county is on the western boundary of the Territory, north of 
the Black Hills/ No Government surveys have been made in this county. 
Vacant public lands, 030,000 acres. 
Population of county 1885, 75. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Camp Crook | Nashville. 



BURLEIGH COUNTY. 



Area, 1,300,000 acres, Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Boundaries were changed February 10, 1X79; changed again February 8, 
1881, parts from Morton and Mercer; changed again in 1883, part to 
McLean; changed again March 10, 1885, parts to Kidder and McLean. 
The county was organized by the appointment, by the Governor, of the fol- 
lowing commissioners, viz.: James A. Emmons, John P. Dunn, and William 
H. Mercer. 

Burleigh county lies north of the center of the Territory and midway 
between the east and west Territorial boundary lilies. Principal streams 
are the Missouri river, which forms the western boundary of the county, 
and Apple and Burnt creeks. A number of lakes and ponds are distrib- 
uted over the county — the largest of which, Long lake, in the southeast, is 
about twenty miles long by one mile wide. An abundance of timber is 
tound along the banks and covering the islands of the Missouri river. 

A small part of the Fort Rice military reservation lies within Burleigh 
county. Surface, rolling prairie and river bottoms. In the neighborhood 
of the Missouri river, the surface is somewhat broken and hilly. Soil, 
light, sandy loam, mixed with vegetable mold. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific (main line) 37.3 miles; 
stations: Driscoll, Sterling, McKenzie, Menoken, Apple Creek, Bismarck. 
Total, 37.3. 

Vacant public lands, 284,320 acres. 

PANES. 

There are four banks doing busines in the county, as follows: Bismarck Na- 
tional Bank, Bismarck, J.'W. Raymond president; W. B. Bell, cashier. 
Capital National Rank, at Bismarck, C. B. Little, president; E. L. Whit- 
ford, cashier. First National Bank, at Bismarck, Asa Fisher, president; 



33S RESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 

0. H. Whitaker, cashier. Mellon Bros. Bank, at Bismarck, D. W. Dickey, 
cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Daily Tribune, M. H. Jewell, editor and publisher, Bismarck. Dakota 
Settler, W. P. Moffet & A. Gray, editors and publishers, Bismarck. 

COUNTY SEAT 

The city of Bismarck, on the Missouri river, the Capital of the Terri- 
tory, is the county seat. It has a population of 4,500; three school-build- 
ings, valued at $30,000; catholic, presbyterian, methodist, episcopal, baptist, 
and Lutheran church edifices, valued at $21,000; city-hall, court-house and 
jail, opera house, valued at $25,000; water-works system, valued at $100,000; 
electric light plant, valued at $50,000; brewery and malt-house, valued at 
$1 00,000; flour-mill, valued at $50,000; cold storage house, etc. Assessed 
valuation of citv property, 1886, real, $1,1 23,728; personal, $488,755; total, 
$1,012,483. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Sterling, east of Bismarck; population 200; school-building, valued at 
$1,000; two church-buildings, valued at $3,500. 

Painted Woods, on the Missouri river, in the northwest; population 200; 
school-building, valued at $900. 

schools, (statistics 1880.) 

Number of organized townships, twenty two; school population, 938; 
number of school-houses in district, 123; number of school-houses built in 
1886, nine; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $46.00; females, 
$35.43; value of all school property, $61,365.00; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 188;;, $25,244.90; cash remaining in school 
treasury June 30, 1880, $3,040.53; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 30, 1880, $20,000.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight per 
cent; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1880. $855.56. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 




338 
1,549 
1,846 
1,816 


35 ; 

213 
238 

1 179 


1,338 
2.141 
2.590 

3.072 


1 

1,352 
1 ,532 
1.497 


199 

633 

1,232 

679 


* 


1885 

1886 
1887 


$138,570 
176,493 
L52.276 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 

Year Acres Real valuation Town Lots Personal Prop- '^^S^ 

Year< Estate. . \^ lua "O n - , valuation, erty valuation. JJuntv. 



1880 I « 390,776 *#259.854 $ 65 

1885 157,000 789,455 $1,200,145 487,896 2,616,066 

1886 ! 281,052 915.902 1,122.270 570.501 2,791,166 

1887 , 568,842 1,718,847 1 161,5 70 464,052 16,745 

* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 

18S5 and 1887. 





Bushels 
1880. 


in 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


"Wheat 


none 

9,334 

66,124 

55 

non- 




259. G97 
is, 630 
317.275 
60 

5 439 


198,000 


Cora 




Oats 


•'56.500 




none 


Barley 


69 







MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 3,24(5; 1885. 5.354; Lands improved, 1880, 
10,040 acres; 1885, 44,91C acres. Number of farms, 1880, 143; 1885. 713.. 
Average size of farms, 1880, seventy acres; 1885, sixty-three acres. Aver- 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 339 

id valuation per acre, 1887,13.02. County indebtedness, 1887, 
1122,950. Potatocrop, 1885, 84,440 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 9,723 pounds. 
Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 23,114 gallons; butter 
pounds; cheese, 900 pounds; eggs, 20 725 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE A DURESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IX 1887. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



Audi to i F. V. Barnes Bismarck . 

Treasurer Robert Macnider Bismarck , 

Sheriff ' Krank Donelly Bismarck . 

Clerk Distriet Court O. II. Holt.....' Bismarck , 

Probate Judge ('. B. Little Bismarck. 

Register ol'D'jed^ John H. Richards Bismarck 

Attorney Louis Ilanitch Bismarck 

Superintendent of Schools VV. if. Winchester BismarcK . 

Suveyor John Bowen Bismarck 

Coroner B. R. Gage Kismarck 

.! II. P. Bogue Bismarck 

{ M. .1. Edgerly Bismarck 

Commissioners < 12. S. Neal Menoken. 



G. VV. Johnson Painted Woods. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IX COUNTY, 1887. 



Bjsmakck Edberg Slaughter 

Conger Glascock sterling 

Croflc Menoken Stewartsdale. 

Cromwell McKenzie Wales 

Driscoll Painted Woods \Vogansport .. 



BUTTE COUNTY 



Area, 832,000 acres. Created, March 5, 1881. from parts of Mandan and 
Lawrence. Organized July 11, 1883, by the appointment, by the Gov- 
ernor, of the following commissioners, viz.:. I. i. YVoolstein, Christian 
Flucken, and Henry Chamberlain. 

Butte county is the northern county of the Black Hills region, in the 
southwestern part of the Territory. Principal streams are the Belle 
Fourche or north fork of the Cheyenne river, and its tributaries, Dead 
Horse, Cherry, Indian, and Owl creeks, from the north, and Whitewood 
and Redwater creeks, from the south. Surface^ (outside of the Black 
Hills, in the southwestern part of the county,) roiling prairie, with valleys 
along the streams. Soil, a rich loam. Principal industries, farming and 
stock-raising. Some timber tractsonthe higher elevations of the south- 
west, where are also found a number of small lakes and ponds. For a 
more extended descripiion ol the Black Hills country, see another part 
of this publication. 

Vacant public lands, <>21/)7.'i acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. * 

Butte County Star, John S. White, editor and publisher, Minnesela. 

COUNTY SE \T. 

Minnesela, on the south bank of the Belle Fourche, is the county seat. It 
has a popula ion of 100; school- building, valued at $800; methodist church 
building, valued at $1,200; flour-mill, valued at $20,000. 
SCIlool.s, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, five; school population, 234; number of 
school-houses built in 1886, seven; average monthly pay of icachers, 
males, $41.25; females, $40.00; value of all school property, >?C),oo2.75; ex- 
pended lor school purposes during year ending June 80, 1886, £7,104.80; 
cash remaining in school treasury June 80, 1886, $1,282.1!); paramount of 
school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $6,550.00; average rate of interest 
paid on bonds, eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding 
June 80, 1886, $921.95. 



340 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIYE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


MU A?8es and Cattle " 


Sheep, j Swine. Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


1,392 

1.942 . 
2,283 


84 27,942 

72 20,456 

73 14,468 


| 
3,234 118 $823,840 
3.026 228 829,936 
5.665 108 1 259,866 


VALUATION STATISTICS. 


Year. 


I Acres Real 
Estate. 


Vnli^+inn Town Lots | Personal Prop- ^v^i^tlnTnf 
Valuation. va i ua tion. erty valuation.!- J^y 011 of 


1885 
1886 

1887 


52,870 
31,672 
41.263 


$ 84.445 
82,775 
109.375 


$3,470 $25,365 $437,120 
5,100 45,360* 463,171 
6 284 49,990 j 425.515 


FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in countv,for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 








! Bushels in Bushels hi ; Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat. 
Corn.... 

Oats 

Rye 

Barlev.. 



none 


14.387 


45,000 


none 


13,710 


j 38.000 


none 


29,974 


112,500 


none 


none 


250 


none 


2,269 


12. 250 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1885, 1,081. Lands improved, 1885, 24,718 acres. 
Number of farms, 1885, 312. Average size of farms, 1885, seventy-nine 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.65. Countv indebt- 
edness, 1887,117,389. Potato crop, 1885, 18,186 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 
16,486 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 745 gallons; 
butter 31,957 pounds"; eggs, 28,201 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFF1CE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. O. Address. 


County Olerk 


F T. West 

S. A. Wheeler 

'•. JH. Stevens 

A. A Chouteau 

A. A. Chouteau 

F T West 


Minnesela 




Sheriff. 




Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 


Minnesela, 

Minnesela 


Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 


W. J. Larimer 

Mrs. E. G. Ames 

Geo. Z. Richards 

N. H. Paker 


Minnesela 


Minnesela 


Coroner 


Minnesela 




Wm. Miller 

Andrew Bosander. (chairman) 

A. Giles.. 

H. M. Stearns 




Commissioners < 

1 


Vale 

Minnesela 

Minnesela 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Butte | Empire. 



| Minnesela | Vale 



CAMPBELL COUNTY. 



Area, 568,320 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Buffalo. Or- 
ganized, November 6, 1883, by appointment, by the Governor, of the fol- 
lowing commissioners, viz.: Henry Eckert, ,1. L. Thompson, and Henry 
W. Harmon. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 341 

Campbell county lies in the geographical center of Dakota. Principal 
Streams are the Missouri river, the wes'ern boundary of the county, and 
i \, the Spring river. Several smaller feeders flow into the last 

named stream. Considerable timber grows along the river bottoms. 
Surface, rolling prairie, river bottoms, and valleys, with exception of a 
range of hills extending across the eastern part of the county, and the 
bluffs bordering on the Missouri river. Numerous ponds of good water 
are scattered throughout the eastern end of the county. Soil, a rich loam. 

Vacant public lands, 146,880 acres. 

BANKS. 

One bank does business in this county, viz.: Campbell County Bank, 
at Mound City. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Campbell County Courier, Frank E. Devan, editor and publisher, La- 
Grace; Journal, Horton & Craig, publishers, Mound City. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

LaGrace, on the Missouri river, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 100; school-building, valued at $1,200; methodist church edifice, valued 
at $300. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Mound City, near the center; population, sixty-five. 
schools, (statistics 1880.) 

Number of organized townships, three; school population, 168; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, seven; number of school-houses built 
in 1886, seven; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $27.50; females, 
$29.17; value of all school property,' $6,365.25; expended for school pur- 
poses, during the year ending June 30, 1886, $6,801.95; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $138.89; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing, June 30, 1886, §6,400. Of); average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding, June 30. 1886, 
$1,687.25. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 
Year. Horses. Mu A 1 ff PB and Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Valuation. 



1885 341 22 1,244 103 66 8 55,507 

1886 585 30 2,489 356 256 98,269 
1S37 70 1 30 2.725 246 _ 287 11 7,240 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Y Acres Real valuation Town Lots Personal Prop- Tot ^\f t f e f ed f 

lcar - Estate. valuation. valuation, erty valuation. ™VJXi on 



1885 6.379 817,515 89.775 829,41c 8112,212 

1886 28.610 75,130 I 8,614 42,982 224.995 
1887 60.911 157, 425 I 7,685 62,527 344,877 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1837. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Barley 

Flax 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, fifty ; 18S5, 1,199. Lands improved, 1880, sixty 
acres; 1885, 9,112 acres. Number of farms, 1880, one; 1885,455. Aver- 



Bushels in 


Bushels in 


Bushels in 


1880. 


1885. 


1887. 


none 


100 


47/690 


none 


6.250 


126,500 


none 


4,975 


110,000 


none 


none 


1,500 


none 


none 


26.784 


none 




67,000 



342 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

age size of farms, 1880, sixty acres; 1835, twenty acres. Average assessed 
valuation per acre, 1887, $2.58. County indebtedness, 1887, 110,280. Po- 
op, 18^5,4,071 bushels. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: but- 
ter, 6,225 pounds; eggs, 813 dozen; wool clip, 1885, 24 pounds. 

NAME AND POST OFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 18S7. 



Office. Same. P. 0. Addn 



County Clerk Joseph E. Horton LaGrace 

Treasurer iW. A. McClaran Mound City 

Sheriff I J. P. Parker LaGrace 

Cleric District Court I Harry T. Craig Mound City, 

Probate Judge A. G. Anderson ampbell 

Register of Deeds Lloseph E.Horron LaGrace 

Attorney James C! Brady LaGrace 

Superintendent of Schools John Kniper LaGrace 

Surveyor K. M. Sloe n in LaGrace 

Assessor c. (). Tronson Campbell 

(J. H. Ingersull LaGrace 

j T. A. Possum Campbell 

Commissioners ■{ l ' avid Hein LaGrace 

| Richard Eustice Mound f "ity 

[ James Reid Wound City 

LIST OP POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Applegate LaGrace.... 

Campbell Mo ndCity 

Gale ISutlev 



Vanderbilt. 
Tfaule... .'.... 



CASS COUNTY. 



Area, 1,536,640 acres. Created, January 4. 1873, from part of Pembina. 
Boundaries changed in 1875, parts to Barnes and Traill. Organized, in 1873, 
by appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: 
1ST. Whitman, Wm. H. Leverett, and Jacob Lowell. 

Cass, a Red River valley county, has the Minnesota state line for its 
eastern boundary, and is the second county north of the center line of the 
Territory. Principal streams are the Red River of the North, Sheyenne, 
Maple, Wild Rice, and Rush rivers. In additon to the rivers named 
nearly every section within the county is watered by some smaller stream. 
Numerous minature lakes and ponds abound throughout the county. The 
surface is, generally, an undulating prairie, broken here, and there, by the 
valleys of the streams and by a few ridges and isolated hills. Along the 
Red, Sheyenne and Maple rivers are good growths of native timber, con- 
sisting of oak, ash, elm, maple, hackberry. box-elder, and cottonwood. 
Soil is a rich vegetable moid, composed of the distinguishing component 
parts which belong to the Red River valley region. Sub-soil is from three 
to four feet in depth, a spongy, porous, clay marl. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific, forty-three miles; 
stations: Fargo, Haggart, Canfield, Mapleton Greene, Dalrymple, Cassel- 
ton, Sidney, Wheatland, Buffalo, Tower City; Northern Pacific, (Fargo 
Southwestern branch.) 31.8 miles; stations: Fargo, Cotters, Horace, Daven- 
port, Leonard. Total: 74.8 mile>!. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul rail- 
way, (Fargo Southern line,) nineteen miles; stations: Wild Rice, Saun- 
ders, Fargo, Hickson. St. Paul, Minneapolis oc Manitoba railroad, (Fargo- 
Grand Forks line.) twenty-five miles; stations: Fargo, Harwood, Argus- 
ville, Gardner, Grandin; (Wahpeton and Ripon line.) fifty-four miles; 
stations: Kindred, Addison, Davenport, Dnrbin, Everest, Sidney, Ripon, 
Ayr, Page City; (Casselton-Larimore line,) twenty-seven miles; stations: 
Everest, Casselton, Amenia, Arthur Station, Hunter; (Ripon- Portland 
line.) nineteen miles; stations: Ripon, Erie. Total, 125 miles. Total 
miles of railroad in county, 218.8. 

Vacant public lands, none. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 343 

HANKS. 

There are ten banks doing business in this county, as follows: Cass 
County Bank, at Casselton; E. II. Paine, president; A. H. Paine, cashier. 
First National Bank, at Casselton, 11. B. Watts, president; John L. Gun- 
kle. cashier. Citizens National Bank, al Fargo, H. F. Miller, president; 
C. C. Schuyler, cashier. Dakota Guarantee Savings Bank, at Fargo, P. B. 
Smith, president; B. F. Snalding, treasurer; First National Bank, at 
Fargo, M. B. Erskine, president; S. S. Lyon, cashier. Red River Valley 
National Bank, at Fargo, L. S. Follett, president; L. W. Follett, cashier. 
Banking House of E. C. Eddy & Company, at Fargo. Bank of Page, at 
Page, Louis B. Hanna. president. Tower City Bank, at Tower City, R. 
P. Sherman, president. Bank of Wheatland, at Wheatland, G. Branden- 
burg, president. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Herald. F. M. Connell, editor and publisher, Buffalo; Dakota Blizzard, 
Uft'ord & Houghton, editors and publishers. Casselton; The Reporter, E. 
S. Kilbourne, editor and publisher. Casselton; Daily Argus, A. W. Ed- 
wards, editor and publisher, Fargo; Evening Republican, J. J. Jordan, 
editor and publisher, Fargo; Fargo Posten, P. T. Julseth, editor, Fargo; 
North Dakota Churchman, Rev. F. B. Nash, Jr., editor, Fargo; Daily Sun, 
W. H. Matteson, editor and publisher, Fargo; Northwestern Farmer and 
Breeder, E. A. Webb, editor ami publisher, Fargo; The Eye, C. E. Stone, 
editor and publisher, Hunter; Pioneer Methodist, Fargo; Herald, Frank 
M. Cornell, editor and publisher, Tower City; Eagle, A. S. Bliton, editor 
and publisher, Wheatland. 

COl T XT Y SEAT. 

Fargo, in the east, on the Red River, is the county seat. It has a pop- 
ulation of 10,000; six school-buildings of the total value of -$122,000; epis- 
copal, presbyterian, catholic, methodist, evangelical, two congregational, 
two baptist, and two lutheian church edifices, of the total value of §51,500; 
brick opera house valued at $35,000: court-house and jail, valued at $130,- 
000; city buildings, valued at $6,000; water- works system, valued at $100,- 
000; electric light plant, valued at $10,000; flour-mills, valued at $70,000; two 
breweries, A'alued at $70 000; carriage works; wood-working shops; boiler 
works; gas works, valued at $80,000; oil warehouses, capacity, 20,000 bar- 
rels, etc. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Casselton, in the center; population, 1.200; school-buildings, valued at 
$15,000; episcopal, methodist, presbyterian, and catholic church edifices, 
valued at $14,000; artesian well; city jail, etc. Assessed valuation city 
property, 1886, real, $282,540; personal, $248,280; total, 8530,820. Tower 
City, in the west; population, 500; school-buildings, valued at $8,000; bap- 
tist, methodist, and presbyterian church edifices, valued at $10,500; arte- 
sian well; flour-mill, valued at $20,000; Tower library, of 1,500 volumes. 
Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, $150,000. Tower 
university is located in this city. Wheatland, between Tower City and 
Casselton; population, 350; school-house, valued at $6,500; presbyterian 
church edifice, valued at .$3,0' 0. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, 
real and personal, $116,570. Hunter, in the north; population, 400; school- 
building, valued at $2,500; presbyterian and methodist church edifices, 
valued at $3,300; citv buildings, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 
1886, real, $47,913; personal, $84,376; total, $82,810. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, 112; school population, 4.404: number 
of school-houses in district, 128; number of school-houses built in 1886, 
fifteen; average monthly pay of teachers," males, $56 :)o; females, $38.32; 
value of all school property, $288,676.42; expended for school purposes dur- 
ing year ending Jane 8)0, 1886, $162,188.34; cash remaining in school treas- 
ury, June 80, 1886, $74,087.55; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 3>0, 1886, $110,729.35; average rate of interest, paid on bonds, nine per 
cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 80, 1886, $83,815.77. 



UA 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


iuvues anu 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 


3.118 

9.018 

9.813 

11,492 


539 
2.001 
1,983 
1,869 


2,999 
8.816 
10.237 
12.506 


Ill 

1,321 
1,288 
1,591 


810 
5,021 
7,33-1 
6,505 


* 


1885 
1886 
1887 


$ 1,050.107 
930.277 
907,380 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 

Year j Acres Real valuation I Town Lots Personal Prop- T % l ^f^ H e d f 
Year - Estate. \aiuation. valuation, erty valuation. ),_ ^ 

, comity. 

. 

1880 i ! $ 2.568,554 j I * $ 396.80C I S 2,965 354 

1885 886,856 7.000,130 I $ 4.040.060 1,964,886 14.055,183 

1886 911,795 5.543.940 3,387,419 2,027,095 11,838.731 ■ 

1887 _ 931,605 6.140,892 1 2,9 36,466 2,190, 222 I 12,174,9 60 

* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for vears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 

Bushels in I Bushels in ! Bushels in 
1880 1885. 1887. 

Wheat I 1,012,565 5,983,830 4,741,750 

Corn 8,198 6,023 23,100 

Oats 310.086 1,948,756 2,722,500 

Rve none 12,159 4,875 

Buckwheat 219 535 2,000 

Bailey 22,610 148,884 329,600 

Flax none none 396 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county 1880, 8,998; 1885, 21,085. Lands improved, 1880, 
111,138 acres; 1885, 602,288 acres. Number of farms, 18S0, 1,016; 1885, 2,556. 
Average size of farms, 1880, J 09 acres; 1885, 236 acres. Average aesesFed 
valuation per acre, 1887, $6.59. County indebtedness, 1887, $175,791. Po- 
tato crop, 1885, 212,015 bushels. Woof clip, 1885, 6,040 pounds. Dairy and 
other farm products, 1885: 'milk, 5,882 gallons; butter, 340,310 pounds; 
cheese, 170 pounds; eggs, 177.032 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor C H. Anheier Fargo 

Treasurer A. H. Burke Fargo 

Sheriff John D. Benton Fargo 

Clerk District Court T. C. McConnell Fargo 

Probate Judge Augustus Roberts Fargo 

Register of Deeds John H. Hanson Fargo 

Attorney Chag. A. Pollock Fargo 

Superintendent of Schools Wm, Mitchell 'Fargo 

Surveyor J. D. White Fargo 

Coroner J. A. Russell ...jTower City 

Assessor Enoa Gray Wh( atland 

f E.Young, (chairman) Tower City 

| G J. Kissner Fargo 

Commissioners ] Wm. Strehlow Casselton... 

j James Holes Fai>go 

[;C. W. Redmon (Mapleton... 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIST OP POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887 



Amenia 

Argusville. 

Arthur 

Ayr 

Binghamton. 



Erie 

Everest .. 
Fargo ... 
Gardner. 
Gill 



Buffalo IGrandiu. 



Casselton ... 

Cowan 

Davenport. 

Durbin 

Eldred 



Leonard... 
Mapleton 

Noble 

Norman... 

Page 

Ripon. 



Harwood Tower City. 

Hickson Trysil 

Horace Watson 

Hunter , Wheatland. 

Kindred iWild Rice... 



345 



CAVALIER COUNTY. 



Area, 437,280 acres. Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Pembina. 
Boundaries were changed March. 8, 1883, March 13, 1885, and March 11, 
1887. The county was organized, June 16, 1884, by the appointment, by 
the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: W. H. Mathews, 
Patrick McHugh, and L. C. Narveong. 

Cavalier county lies on the northern boundary of the Territory and is 
the second county west of the Minnesota state line. Principal stream, 
the Pembina river. A number of smaller streams, flowing in an easterly 
and southerly direction, drain the eastern half of the county. Surface, 
rolling prairie. Soil, rich black loam. Sub-soil, a deep clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad, 
(Larimore-Langdon line) twenty-five miles; station: Langdon, Easby. 

Vacant public lands, 492,0 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Courier, C. B. C. Dohertv, editor, Langdon. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Langdon, near the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 
100; school-building, valued at $500; court-house, etc. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Olga, in the east, has a population of seventy-five; school-building, 
valued at $1,500; church edifice, valued at $2,000. 
schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, twelve; school population 1,014; number 
of achool-houses in district, sixteen; number of school-houses built in 
1886, ten; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $36.07; females, $29.37; 
value of all school propery, $10,972.00; expended for school purposes dur- 
ing year ending June 30, 1886, $8,326.30; cash remaining in school treas- 
ury June 30, 1886, $966.76; paramount of school' bonds outstanding June 
30, 1886, $10,800.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight per cent; 
amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $3,319.01. 



LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and ! 

Asses. | 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



301 

935 

1,194 



2,126 
1.925 
3,828 



235 
312 
250 



1,005 
1,589 

982 



8 94.618 
114 129 

122,723 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



76,864 

98 254 

117,599 



Valuation. 



$126,236 
2-19,794 
215.998 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



| Person a 1 Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



I $22,700 



$ 6.855 
89,778 
48,984 



$227,709 
453.701 
410,405 



846 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA, 



FARM ST 

18?5and S 1887 inS pr ° dUCt ° f field cro P 8 ' on ikrms in county, for years 1880, 



Basnets in 
1880. 



Bushels in Busl 
1885. !>s 7 . 



Wheat, 
Corn ... 

Oats .... 
Rye .... 
Barley 

Flax ... 



none 
none 

none 
none 
none 






120,210 
588 



1,104,000 

600,000 
1,050 



. MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS 

Populationof county, 1880 none; 1885, 5,029. Landsimproved, 1885 48 4(57 
acre., dumber of farms, 1885, 1,570. Average size of farms i8S5 thirty 
one acres. Average assessed — , — * 
ednes 113,086. Dairy 

pounds; cheese, 1,200 poun< 
pounds. 

NAME .VXD POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN L887, 



Lyojv. average size of farms, 1885, thirtv- 
ed valuation per acr< S3. County indebt- 

y ami other farm products, 1885: butte 
unds; eggs, 43,877 dozen; wool clip, Li 



O ili ce. 



Name 



1'. o. Address. 



County Clerk 

Treasurer 

Sheriff 

Clerk District i ourt 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 

Superintendent of School 

Surveyor 

Coroner 



Commissioners. 



... P. McHugh 

Geo. P. Winter 

.. M. D. O'Brien. . 

.. II. E. Dorval 

.. ! McHugh 

.. Tl. D. Borden 

.. ii. D vllert 
.. J. C. Morrison.. 

G ( Pieknell 
f IT. E. Renand, (chairman) 
Dovle 

A. D. Shelp 

* li;;m ,;-; li lrioi 

John McBride 



i 
Langdon 

Langdon. 
Langdon. 
Lwgdon. 
Langdon. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Alun I VNGDON 

Easby Lemon 

Elgin Maida 

Elkwo id Milton 

Gertrude Mona 

Hannah Mount CarmeL 



Olga 

Osnabrock ... 

Ridgefield 

Romfo 

Woodbridge.... 



CHARLES MIX COUNTY. 

Area, 720,000 acres. Created May S, 1862 Homid'iri^ «•<„,, ,,i , i 
January 6, 1864 and January 10, 1873, part To Pou^as ^1 " , "^ 
organized, September 1, 1879, by the appointment, hv tbe Governor of Thl 
following commissioners, viz: John Johns. William Miller, and J F James 

Charles Mix county is situated on the. southern boundary of the tS 
tory, and east of the Missouri river. Principal streams are the Missouri 
river, which bounds the county on the west and south, and Platte Snake 
Five-Mile, Cedar, and Campbell creeks. A number W smaller streams 
thoroughly drain every section of the county. Surface, riveTbottoms ^d 
gently rolling prairies, except in the neighborhood of streams Se 
bluffs along the > Missouri, are high and quite precipitous. ThTeasiern 
ha f of the county is contained within the boundaries of the Fort R d- 
military and \ankton Indian reservations. Soil on the Missouri bottom 
which is about one mile m width is a rich, black loam, an c 
ductive. Ihe prairie soil is, generally, ablaek vegetable loam, and equally 



RESOURCES Oh DAKOTA. 



fertile. Sub soil, clay 

of the Missouri river. 

Vacant public lands 



sr grows along the banks and on the islands 
5,000 acres. 



There are six banks doing business in the county, as follows: Farmers' 
Bank, Bloomington, J>. H. Henry, president; M. T. Post, cashier. 
Charles Mix County Bank, at Castalia, 1). 11. Henry, president; A. B. Lu- 
cas, cashier. Missouri Valley Bank, at Castalia, F.s. Rowley, president. 
Bank of Kdgerton, at Edgerton, I. 11. Welch, president. Hammond & 
Short, at Edgerton. Security Bank" at Wheeler, 1>. II. Henry, 
denl ; S. M, Liudley, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 



Record and Republi- 

Mix County News, 



Courier, Ed. L. Bates, publisher, Bloomingt< 
can, Lucas <.\ Adams, editors, Castalia. C harles 
Tucker & Anderson, publishers, Edgerton. 

COUNTY SE \T. 

Wheeler, on the Missouri river, is the county seat. It has a population 
of fifty; school-building, valued at 11,500; court-hous< I, valued at 

$2,500; saw-mill, valu >,0!K). Assessed valuation. of city property, 

ISSti, real and personal, $35,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Bloomington, near the eastern boundary; population, sixty. Castalia, 
near th uri river; school-building, valued at $1,000; catholic church 

-, valued at $600; flour-mill, valued at $10,000. Colvin, in the north; 
population, forty; school-building, valued a1 $500; congregational church 
edifice, valued at $1,800. Edgerton, between Colvin and Bloomington ; pop- 
ulation, fifty; churches, and schools. Jasper, near the eastern boundary; 
population, twenty; congregational church edifice, valued tehool- 

building, etc. March, northeast of Wheeler; catholic, and methodist 
church edifices; schools, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics IS 

Number of organized townships, eleven; school population, 1,074; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, forty-three; number of school-houses 
built in 18S6, ten; average monthly pay ol teachers, male, sis. 1:5; females, 
$25.78; value of all school property, $24,311.55; expended for school purposes 
during year ending June 30, 1886, $13,530.24; cash remaining in school 
treasury, June 30, 1886, $92.80; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $23,210.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
percent; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $4,246.40. 

LIVE STOCK statistics. 



Year. 



Year. 



H'orsi 



Valuation. 




\ VI. C A TiO\ ST V TISTICS. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Vuluatiou. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 

county. 



L880 
1885 
L886 
L887 



.: 65, 157 

92,762 

105.422 



S l,U5 
144.098 

•Jes.^s,; 



i 5, 148 
8,660 
LI, 069 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 



S 25,778 
89,255 
110,447 
119,086 



8 26,893 
870,068 
588,803 
649,658 



348 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880 
1885, and 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat. 

Barley 

Flax 



Bushels in ! Bushels in Bushels in 

■ 18S0. 1885. 1887. 



66 


52 396 


206,250 


9,695 


824.563 


1,214,400 


none 


102.685 


196.866 


none 


981 


6 408 


none 


948 


7,011 


900 


3,595 


22 950 


none 




30.709 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1870, 152; 1880, 407; 1885, 4,022. Lands improved, 
1880, 1,560 acres; 1885, 74,279 acres. Number of farms, 1880, thirty-six; 
1885, 981. Average size of farms, 1880, forty-three acres; 1885, seventy-six 
acres, Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.83. County indebt- 
edness, 1887, $11,564. Potato crop, lc c 8~), 3(3,542 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 
4,268 pounds. Dairy and other products, 1885: butter, 81,797 pounds; 
cheese, 700 pounds; eggs, 42,667 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



Countv Clerk S. M. Lindley Wheeler.. 

Treasurer H. M. Carrol) Wheeler . 

Sheriff 'Isaac Buffer Wheeler . 

Clerk District Court D. L. P. Lamb Wheeler . 

Probate Judge J. I). Hoar Jasper 

Register of Deeds S. M. Lindley Wheeler .. 

Attorney W. F. McCall.... Edgerton. 

Superintendent of Schools E. D. Wood Castalia... 

Surveyor JYVm. Cox Edgerton 

Coroner 'J. E. Hill .....Castalia... 

Assessor i Frank Adams I Castalia... 

10. W. Forbes, (chairman) iCastalia .. 

Commissioners -{ |R. A. Smith Burnside. 

IW. A. Lathrop I Wheeler . 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY 


, 1887. 


Bartholdi .'.... 


Colvin 


.Jasper 

. IMarch 

.Platte 

. Wheeler 

.White Swan 


Bloomington 

Burnside 

Castalia 


E Igerton 

Flora , 

Fridhem 

IGreemvood 







CHOTEAU COUNTY. 



Created, March 9, 1883. Unorganized. 

Choteau county is contained within the boundaries of the Great Sioux 
Indian reservation. 

CHURCH COUNTY. 



Created, March 11, 1887, from parts of Sheridan and McHenry. 

Church county is situated in the northern part of Dakota— the third 
county south of the International boundary line, and midway between 
the east and west boundaries of the Territory. Small streams of water, 
flowing in a northerly direction, drain the northern half of the county. 
Surface, rolling prairie, with exception of the southwestern corner, which 
is crossed by the Coteau du Missouri — a range of low, broken hills, con- 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



349 



taining numerous ponds of water, and valleys of good grazing lands. Soil, 
black loam. 
Vacant public lands, 22,400 acres. 

CLARK COUNTY. 



Area, 760,320 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Hanson. 
Boundaries changed in 1873, part to Beadle, and, in 1877, changed again, 
part to Codington. Organized, December 21, 1880, by the appointment, 
by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Albert Taft, 
James Hosmer, and John Bailey. 

Clark comity is situated in the southern part of the Territory — the third 
county south of the 46th parallel, and the third west of the Minnesota 
state line. - A number of small streams, having their sources in the western 
and central parts of Clark county — flow into the James river. Numerous 
small lakes and ponds are scattered over the county. Surface, undulating 
prairie, and broken ridges and hills of the " Coteaus'," which run through 
the center of the county, forming the divide between the valleys of the 
Big Sioux on the east, and the James river on the west. Soil, a dark veg- 
etable loam, from two to four feet in depth, underlaid by a stratum, of 
clay, mingled with lime, magnesia and marl. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(Madison & Bristol line,) thirty-three miles; stations: Elrod, Bradley, 
Garden City, Naples. Chicago & Northwestern railway, (Watertown 
-Faulkton line,) twenty-five miles; staiions: Raymond,' Clark, Elrod. 
Total miles of railroad in county, fifty-eight. 

Vacant public lands, 21,480 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are three banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank 
of Clark, at Clark, D. Wayne, president; G. C. Griffin, cashier. First Na- 
tional Bank, at Clark, Fred Ware, president; Carl Jackson, cashier. Bank 
of Raymond, at Raymond; J. W. Humphrey, president; A. W. Dunlap, 
cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Pilot Review, The Clark Publishing Company, publishers, Clark; Clark 
County Democrat, Isaac Landers, editor, Clark; Gazette, Paul Dutcher, 
publis h e r , R ay m o n d . 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Clark, in the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 900; 
school-building, valued at $5,000; congregational, and methodist church 
edifices, valued at $2,500; city buildings, valued at $2,200; flour-mill, valued 
at $6,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, $83,129; personal, 
$51,773; total, $134,902. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Raymond, in the west; population, 270; school-building, valued at $3,500; 
catholic, and presbyterian church edifices, valued at $3,000. 
schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, twenty-one; school population, 531; 
number of school- houses in district, twenty- three; number of school- 
houses built in 1886, eight; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $27.00; 
females, $26.06; value of all school property, $10,912.22; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, iSSG, $7,700,55; cash remain- 
ing in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $1,595.25; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30, 1886, $10,900.00; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, seven per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $724.82. 







LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 






Year. 


Horses. 


M "Z£ ni \ <*ttie. s »-p- 


Swine. | 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


2.177 
2,920 
8,274 


144 3,021 
178 4,334 
182 5.247 


890 
1,215 
2,507 


930 
1.595 
1,060 


$ 199,268 
273 853 
282,924 



350 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots Personal Prop- To **l *f e * SQ £ 
valuation, erfey valuation. JJ^J* lon 



1885 
1886 

i 



200,734 
228,499 



782,886 
856,733 






254 ss t 



1,416,745 



FARM STATISTICS 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, fc 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in Bushels in 



188o. 



1887. 



Wheat none 483,537 840,945 

Corn... none 42, Sin 114 608 

Oats none 2(17,100 667,920 

Rye none 

Buckwheat none 300 

Barley none 

Flax none 60 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 114;' 1885, 4,892. Lands improved 
acres; 1885, 92,005 acres. Number of farms, 1880, t^k'ty-eight; 1885, 1,356. 
Average size of farms L885, sixty-eight acres. A-, 

assessed valuation per acre. 13.75. County "indebtedness, 1887, 

$5,806. Totato crop, L885, 56,804 bushels. Wool clip, L885, 6,170 pounds. 
Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk tllons; butter, 321,160 

pounds; cheese, 393 pounds; eggs, 46,378 do/en. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE A i : ■ IOUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk P. W. Ware Clark. 

Treasurer J. \V Humph rev (Mark. 

Sheriff |J. Boucher Clark. 

C erk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register ot Deeds 

Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools .. 

Surveyor 

Coroner 

Assessor 



Commissioners. 



A. F. Mattiee Clark 

S. H. Elrod Clark 

P. W. Ware Clark 

Win. McGaan Clark 

Eltie Benjamin Clark 

E. I'. Holhrook Clark 

Wm. H. Miller Clark 

A. T. Stewart Clark 

W. J. demons, (chairman) Raymond 

Chas. Young (Mark 

, A. D. McClelland Clark 

| Jas. Hosmer Henry 

LiWm. E. Dudley Willow Lake. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUXTV, 1887. 



Carlton 


Julian 


Success 


Clark 


Merton 










Degbert 

Ellsworth 


Raymond 








Elrod 


Stusted 





CLAY COUNTY. 



Area, 261,760 acres. Created April 10, 1862, and its boundaries were 
changed January 3, 1863. The county was organized in 1862, by appoint- 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 351 

ment by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Aaron Car- 
oenter, Geo. W. Wilson, and S. Bethune. 

P Clay county is situated in the southeastern part of the Terntory-the 
second county from the Iowa boundary line. Principal streams are the 
Missouri river, which forms the southern boundary, and the \ ermillion. 
flowing through the center from north to south. Numerous springs and 
small stream., furnish a supply of good water to all portions ot the roiriity 
Considerable timber grows along the bottoms and on the islands of the 
Missouri river. The greater part of the county has a surface gently roll- 
ing in character. The valley of the Missouri is from one to ten miles in 
width, and that of the Vermillion is a mile or more in breadth. Ihe 
bluffs along the two streams rise to a considerable height, bpmt Mound, 
near the center of the county, is a cone shaped elevation, rising a dis- 
tance of several hundred 1 the level of the rivers. Soil, nth 

al Miles of P raUroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, railway, 
(Sioux City & Yankton line) twenty-one miles; stations: Burbank; Ver- 
million and Meckling. Chicago & Northwestern railway, (lankton- 
Oentreville line) eleven miles; station: Wakonda. Total miles of rail- 
road in county, thirty-two. 
Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. . 

There are three banks doing business in this county, Viz : Uay 
Countv Bank, at Vermillion, L. T. Swezey, president; C. H. Barrett, 
cashier. Bank of D. M. Inman & Co., Vermillion. Farmers' Bank, at 
Wakonda, II. H. Kittredge, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Dakota Republican, H. B. Chaffee, editor, Vermillion; Ham-Talk, 
T. IT. Ayrn-s, editor and publisher, Vermillion; The Enterprise, Archie 
Whaley, Jr., editor and proprietor, Hawley. 

COUNTY SKAT. 

Vermillion, on the Missouri river, is the county seat. It has a popula- 
tion of 1,200; two-story, brick school-building, valued at |5,000; congre- 
gational baptist, methodist, and episcopal church edifices; city hall 
valued at $10,000; flour-mill; creamery. The university of Dakota is 
located at Vermilion. See description of the university, page 202 of this 
publication. Assessed valuation, city property, 1886, real and personal, 
$110,000. 

OTHEB IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Wakonda, on the Vermillion river, has a population of 250; school- 
building valued at $1,500; congregational, and methodist church edifices, 
valued at $2,800. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and per- 
sonal. $35,750. 

schools, (statistics 1885.) 

Number of organized districts, fifty-six; school population, 2,192; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, forty-nine; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, three; average monthly pay of teachers, males >w..o<>; 
females $30.00; value of all school property. $37 900 00; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June, 30, ,1886, $1S,834.4S; cash re- 
maining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $4,282.0o; par amount of school 
bonds Outstanding .Tunc 30, 1886, $10,500.00; average rate of interest paid 
on bonds, seven per cent; amount of school warrants, outstanding June 
30, 1886, $1,060,20. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. Horses. 



Mules and 

Asses. 



L880 8,108 120 

1885 3.299 142 

1886 3,548 150 

1887 3,964 181 



Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


18.956 

13,188 
14.182 

17,109 


1.378 
1 676 
1,659 
1,459 


1 
11,460 ! 
7,764 
6,365 

7,78:; 


* 


8 190.890 
432,845 
345,312 



{52 



RESOURCES OE DAKOTA 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Es ate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots Personal Prop- j 
valuation. erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1880 
1885 
1886 

1887 



225,044 
221.741 
223.266 



$ 504,113 

790.565 

1 238.334 

1,103.529 



$ 74,067 

101.270 
106,659 



* §218 167 

67.508 

138.001 

. 121,914 



$ 722,280 
1122.580 

1.910,450 
1.677 414 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for vearsl880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in Bushels in Bushels i: 

1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat. 

Barley 

Flax.. 



8 335 


71,787 


132,468 


375.837 


908 743 


1,705.275 


50.645 


360,114 


680.432 


103 


7,330 


11,368 


223 


437 


585 


5,008 


32,684 


48.405 
56,831 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of countv, 1870, 2,621- 1880, 5,00i ; 1885, 6,201. Lands im- 
proved, 1885, 114,466 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 782; 1885, 1,025. Av- 
erage size of farms, 1880, 186 acres; 1885, 112 acres. Average assessed valua- 
tion per acre, 1887, $4.94. County indebtedness, 1887, 18,295. Potato crop, 
1885, 46,335 bushels. Wool clip*, 1885, 9,971 pounds. Dairy and other 
farm products, 1885: milk, 680,206 gallons; butter, 367,348 pounds; cheese, 
5,514 pounds; eggs, 33,789 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Vermillion. 
Veimillion. 

Venuilliou. 
Vermillion. 



County Clerk A. A. Quarnberg 

Treasurer ; Calvin G. Shaw 

Sheriff. jlsaac Cope 

Clerk District Court Leonard W. Bell 

Probate Judge jSelden J. Lewis i Vermillion 

Registerof Deeds A. A. Quarnberg Vermillion 

Attorney |H. A. Copeland Vermillion 

Superintendent of Schools 'E. F. Peterson Vermillion 

Surveyor H. J. Austin Venuillion 

Coroner ! Geo. Shott Vermillion 

( Cyrus J. Frv Meekling .. 

Commissioners < 'Niels Hansen Greenii-ld. 

( Join E. Norelius Dale^berg . 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Alsen D.ilesberg Marshalltown .. 

Bloomingdale Glenwood Meek ling 

Bluff Center Greenfield I Riverside 

Bolton [Komstad Vermillion 

Burbank Lincoln Wakonda 

Clav Point Ilodi 



CODINGTON COUNTY. 



Area, 460,800 acres. Created, February 15, 1877, from parts of Clark, 
Grant, and Hamlin. Boundaries changed March 8, 1883, parts to Grant 
and Clark. Organized, July 19, 1878, by the appointment, by the Gov- 
ernor, of the following commisioners, viz.: Wn 
H. Stoddart, Oliver S. Jewell. 



'm. H. Mclntyre, Geo. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 353 

Codington, a county of southern Dakota, the second west of the Minne- 
sota state line. Principal stream, the Big Sionx river, which traverses 
the county a little east of the center, flowing southeast. A number of 
small branches flow into this stream, from the east. The county is 
dotted with beautiful lakes — the most important of which are Take 
Kampeska, a charming sheet of water, covering about seven square 
miles near the center of the county; Lake Pelican, Goose Lake, Twin 
Lakes, Nicholson Lake, Chain Lakes, and Punished Woman's Lake. Tim- 
ber grows about the borders of Kampeska, and other of the larger lakes. 
Surface, rolling prairie. Soil, a deep, rich, sandy loam, strongly impreg- 
nated with lime. About two townships, in a triangular shape, in the 
north, are included within the boundaries of the Lake Traverse Indian 
reservation. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern railway (Tracy- 
Watertown line,) eleven miles; stations: Kranzbnrg, Watertown; (Water- 
town-Faulkton line,) eighteen miles; stations: Watertown, Kampeska, 
Henry; (AYatertown-Brookings line,) six miles; station: Watertown. 
Total, thirty-five miles. Minneapolis & St. Louis railroad, (main line,) six- 
teen miles'; stations: Watertown, Waverly. Burlington, Cedar Eapids & 
Northern railway, (main line,) twelve miles; station: Watertown; St. 
Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, eighteen miles; station: Water- 
town. Total miles of railroad in county, eighty-one. 

Vacant public lands, 6,260 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are five banks doing business in the county, as follows: Bank of 
Henry, at Henry, S. E. Wightman, president; L. C. Wightman, cashier. 
Citizens' National Bank, at Watertown, A. D. Leet, president; W. D. 
Morris, cashier. First National Bank, at Watertown, H*. D. Walrath, 
president; S. B. Sheldon, cashier. Merchants' Bank, at Watertown, 0. 
Gesley, president; C. E. Boyden, cashier. Watertown National Bank, 
at Watertown, W. E. Scarritt, president; E. W. Thomas, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Enterprise, G. H. Varce, publisher, Henry; Daily Courier-News, R. E. 
Carpenter, manager, Watertown; Journal-Democrat, Geo. C. Jones, ed- 
itor and publisher, Watertown; Public Opinion, L. D. Lyon, editor and 
publisher, Watertown; Conklin's Dakotian, S. J. Conklin, editor and pub- 
lisher, "Watertown; Daily Chronicle, Watertown. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Watertown, on the Big Sioux river, is the county seat. It has a popula- 
tion of 4,500; three school-buildings, valued at 819,000; methodist, presby- 
terian, episcopal, congregational, catholic, and baptist church edifice's, 
valued at 820,000; court-house and jail, of brick, valued at 825,000; street- 
railway, and waterworks, contracted for; electric-light plant, valued at 
$10,000; flour-mill, valued at 875,000; paint-factory, valued at 87,000; 
broom-factory, valued at $i,000; wagon and carriage factory; foundry; 
planing- inillf plow-factory; bottling- works; brick opera house, valued at 
$25,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1S86, real, 8500,000; personal, 
860,000; total, $560,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Henry, in the west; population 200; school-building, valued at $2,000; 
congregational, methodist, and catholic church edifices, valued at $6, C00; 
water- works system, valued at $2,000. Assessed valuation city property, 
real and personal, 1886, $70,000. Kampeska, between Watertown and 
Henry; population 6o; school-building, valued at $1,000; methodist church 
edifice; Hour-mill, valued at $8,000. Kranzburg, in the east; population 
100; school-building, valued at $1,500; catholic church edifice, valued at 
$1,800; flour-mill, etc. Waverly, in the east; population 75; school-build- 
ing, valued at 81,500; methodist church edifice, valued at $1,500; flour- 
mill, valued at $20,000. 

SCHOOLS, (STATISTICS 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, forty-nine; school population, 1,571; 
number of school-houses in district, forty-two; number of school- 
ed) 



354 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



houses built in 1886, six; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $42.78; 
females, $28.78; value of all school property, $30,514.84; expended for 
school purposes during the year ending June 30, 1886, $30,367.03; cash re- 
maining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $5,779.72; par amount of school 
bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $23,175.00; average rate of interest paid 
on bonds, eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $4,517.81. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


-ti^o™ 1 Mules and 
Horses. | Asseg _ 


Cattle. Sheep. - Swine, i Valuation. 


1880 

1885 
1886 
1887 


i 

697 41 

2 497 141 

2,912 123 

3,277 i 123 


924 15 392 
3276 886 1669 $192,733 
3,834 [ 1.491 1905 261,300 
4,779 ! 1,503 1 1,395 257,669 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
lerty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



196,813 
213,144 

237,704 



! 136,819 

989,122 

1,100,770 

1,214,239 



$285,606 
400.610 
519,880 



$ 75,103 

215,003 

307,610 

- 345,588 



$ 211,922 
1,682,464 
2,070,290 
2,337,376 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 
Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 

FARM STATISTICS. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat 

Barley 

Flax 



Bushels in 


| Bushels in 


Bushels in 


1880. 


1885. 


1887. 


22,669 


■ 629.394 


911, S8S 


5,455 


8,282 


19,188. 


85,386 


374,857 


544 654 


none 


580 


1 575 


none 


487 


5,250 


522 


86,816 


182,000 


none 




45,851 








MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 2,156; 1885, 5,648. Lands improved, 1880, 
13,667 acres; 1885, 78,307 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 389 ;~ 1885, 825. Av- 
erage size of farms, 1880, thirty-five acres; 1885, ninety-five acres. Aver- 
age assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $5.11. County indebtedness, 1887, 
$36,170. Potato crop, 1885, 59,207 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 4,058 pounds. 
Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 1,715 gallons; butter, 123,205 
pounds; cheese, 903 pounds; eggs, 81,746 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFPICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor 

Treasurer 

Sheriff 

Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools- 
Surveyor 

Coroner 

Assessor 



Commissioners. 



F. H. Adams 

F. P. Phillips 

L.. S. Deming 

J. B. Hanten 

A. L. Buell 

G. R. Williams... 
F. E. Van Liew... 

F. P. Crane 

G. W. Carpenter. 
S. V. Groesbeck.. 

G. E. Hanson 

John Giese 

E. D. Wheelock.. 

A. B. Henry 

O. D. Stevens 

John Fox 



Watertown. 
Watertown . 
Watertown.. 
Watertown. 
Watertown . 
Watertown. 
Watertown . 
Watertown . 
W T atertown . 
Watertown. 
Watertown. 
Watertown. 
Kfimpiska . 

Henry 

Watertown. 
Kranzburg. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 355 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Appleby Henry ■ Water-town. 

Dexter..". Kampeska iWaverly 

Esterlv Kranzburg I 



CUSTER COUNTY 



Area. 2,240,000 acres. Created, January 11, 1875, from original terri- 
tory. Its boundaries were changed, February 10, 1877; again, February 
19, '1881, and again, March G, 1883, part to Fal] River. Organized, April 3, 
1877, by appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, 
viz.: E. G. Ward, Charles Hayward, and M. D. Thompson. 

Custer, is a county of the Black Hills, in the southwestern part of the Ter- 
ritory, and the second north of the Nebraska boundary line. Principal 
streams are the south fork of the Cheyenne, and its tributaries from the 
north, viz.: Spring, Battle, French, Red Canon, and Beaver creeks; and 
Fall river, and Fforsehead, and Beaver creeks, flowing in Irom the south. 
Small streams, and springs of excellent water, abound in every part of the 
county. Surface, mountainous, and agricultural and grazing lands, about 
equally divided. The open country includes the principal valleys and a 
considerable extent of the prairie region along both banks of the Chey- 
enne river. The western and northern sections are mountainous and 
hilly, and contain valuable deposits of gold, silver, tin, and other miner- 
als.' (See article descriptive of the Black Hills, on another page of this 
pamphlet.) A considerable area of the county is covered by a growth of 
hard, pine timber. Soil of the valleys and prairies, rich, 'black loam, 
from tw T o to lour feet deep. Sub-soil, a yellow clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern railway, (Fre- 
mont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley,) thirty miles; stations: Buffalo Gap, 
Fairburn, Hermosa. 

Vacant public lands, 911,920 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are four banks doing business in this county, as follows: Lake & 
Halley, Buffalo Gap. Bank of Custer, Custer City, 1). Carrigan, president. 
Bank of Hermosa, at Hermosa, E. E. Miller, president. Commercial 
Bank, Hermosa, M. R. Maxson, president. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

News, Geo. E. Hair, editor and publisher, Buffalo Gap; Chronicle, 
Joseph Kubler, proprietor, Custer City; Pilot, J. A. Stanley, publisher, 
Hermosa. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Custer City, in the north, is the county seat. It has a population of 600; 
brick school-building, valued at $9, 000; congregation al, and baptist church 
edifices, valued at $4,000; brick court-house, valued at $16,000. Assessed 
valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, $80,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Buffalo Gap, in the southeast; population, (500; school-building, valued 
at $1,000; congregational church edifice, valued at $2,000; city building, 
valued at $2,500; artesian well; flour-mill, A'alued at $5,000. Assessed val- 
uation city property, 188G, real and personal, $213,000. Hermosa, in the 
north; population," 300; school-buiiding, valued at $400; congregational 
church edifice; flour-mill. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real 
and personal, $63,000. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, eight; school population, 468; number 
of school-houses in district, twenty : number of school-houses built in 
1886, eleven; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $45.00; females, 
$40.00; value of all school property, $16,500.00; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 1886, $11,313.55; cash remaining in school 
treasury, June 30, 1886, $2,700.53; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $6,000.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, seven per 
cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $800.00. 



356 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. hl- e r d j cattle. 


Sheep, Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 S2R 29 8.629 


34 
6,838 
3,984 
2,751 


114 
299 
201 
256 


* 


1885 
1886 
1887 


1,677 60 7.989 
2,562 81 5,671 
2,960 128 16,186 


$ 210,150 
278,148 
279,757 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



iPersonal Prop-^f^^f^ 
|erty valuation, ™ l ™$ on of 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



6,911 
10.406 
28,423 



$ 28,883 
.' 14,009 
109.950 
244,998 



$ 43 861 
90,056 
138.463 



9 73,456 
66,501 

179,798 
123,563 



% 102,339 
334 521 
657,952 
786,781 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 


128 

288 
2,758 
none 

153 
none 


945 

1,500 

19,150 

none 

2,136 


24,000 




65,000 


Oats 


64,000 


Rye 


2,000 




6.600 


Flax ■ 


750 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS . 

Population of county, 1880, 995; 1885, 1,292. Lands improved, 1885, 
4,089 acres. Number of farms, 1880, eighty-eight; 1885, 224. Average size 
of farms, 1880, 156 acres; 1885, twenty-one acres. Average assessed valua- 
tion per acre, 1887, 18.61. County indebtedness, 1886, $60,981. Potato 
crop, 1885, 7,245 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 20,029 pounds. Dairy and 
other farm products, 1885: butter, 2,870 pounds; cheese, fifty pounds; 
eggs, 4,775 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFPICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address* 



County Clerk Jos. E. Pilcher ! Custer City,. 

Treasurer Edwin H. Flynn jCuster City.. 

Sheriff...., B. F. Porter iCuster City.. 

Clerk District Court ! Alfred T. Feay .- 'Custer City.. 

Probate Judge C. W. Robbing Custer City.. 

J. E. Pilcher jCustei City.. 

Wm. H. Frye Custer City.. 

Willis C. Bower jHerniosa 

J, W. Mclntyre |Hermosa 

J. L. Conant Buffalo Gap. 

R. Maddox Hermosa 



Register of Deeds 

Attorney ,.. 

Superintendent of Schools- 
Surveyor 

Coroner 



Commissioners. 



ri. M. Booth 

Jno: F. Street 

iJas. Humphrius. 



Custer City. 

Hermosa 

Custer City. 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 




Fairburn iRocks 


Buffalo Gap 


Folsom 1 


Custer City 


Hermosa 1 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 357 

DAVISON COUNTY. 



Area, 37(3,480 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Hanson. 
The boundaries were changed February 22, 1879; were changed again 
February 24, 1881, and were changed again March 1, 1881, part to Hanson. 
The county was organized in 1873, by appointment, by the Governor, of 
the following commissioners, viz.: John Head, Levi Ham. J. Piatt. 

Davison county is situated in southern Dakota, the third county north 
of the Nebraska state line, and about midway between the Missouri and 
the Big Sioux rivers. Principal stream is the James river, which flows 
through two townships m the northeast corner, and its tributaries from 
the west, Morris, Firesteel, Enemy, and Twelve Mile creeks. Some na- 
tive timber is found along the banks of the James river, and Firesteel 
creek. Surface, even and slightly rolling prairie. In the northeast cor- 
ner, contiguous to the James river, the prairie lands terminate in low 
bluffs. Soil, a rich loam of the famous James river valley. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(James river line,) eleven miles; station: Mitchell; (Mitchell-Yankton 
line) fifteen miles; stations: Mitchell, Ethan; (main line) eighteen miles; 
stations: Mitchell, Mt. Vernon. Total, forty-four miles. Chicago, St. Paul, 
Minneapolis & Omaha railway, (main line,) three miles; station: Mitchell. 
Total miles of railroad in county: forty-seven. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are four banks doing business in this county, as follows: First 
National Bank, at Mitchell, J. D. Lawler. president; J. E. Gilbert, cashier. 
Mitchell National Bank, at Mitchell, \Y. G. Davison, president; N. L. Dav- 
ison, cashier. Security Bank, at Mitchell, M. H. Rowley, president; J. 
H, Green, cashier. Davison County Bank, at Mt. Vernon, J. C. Tatman, 
president; L. B. Tatman, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Daily Republican, R. W. Wheelock, editor, Mitchell. Mail, R. H. Mc- 
Bride, editor and publisher, Mitchell. Gazette, E. S. Johnston, editor 
and publisher, Mt. Vernon. Medical Brief. Andros & Sivey, editors and 
publishers, Mitchell. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

The city of Mitchell, in the east, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 5,000; two school-buildings, valued at 820,000; methodist, presbyterian, 
congregational, baptist, episcopal, and catholic church edifices, valued at 
$50,000; water-works (artesian) system, valued at 850,000; flour-mill, ma- 
chine shops, foundry, packing-house— -of the total value of 8114,000. 
Assessed valuation of city property, 1886, real, 8369, 400; personal, $157,117; 
total, s<"-)20,577. The methodist university, with buildings valued at 8100,000, 
is located at Mitchell. For a description of the institution, see page 216, 
this publication. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Mount Vernon, in the west; population, 400; school-building, valued at 
$1,200; methodist, and congregational church edifices, valued at $4,000; 
flour-mill, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, twelve; school population, 1,007; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, forty-seven; average monthly pay of 
teachers, males, 827.88; females, 824.75; value of all school property, 830,- 
540.00; expended for school purposes during year ending June* 30, 1886, 
817,158.55; cash remaining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $2,531.75; par 
amount of school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, 825,843.69; average rate 
of interest paid on bonds, seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants out- 
standing June 30, 1S86, $5,458.48. 



358 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Year. 


Horses. 


M ules and 

Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 


462 
1,936 
2,257 
2,503 


43 

81 

102 

94 


852 
4,106 
4,224 
4,646 




243 
1,841 
1,934 
1,652 


* 


1885 
1886 
1887 


2.141 

1,326 

974 


$185 558 
160,925 

179,940 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots I Personal Prop- i To S assessed 
valuation. erty valuation. l'?}l\\} 011 of 



1880 
1885 
1886 



125,774 
139.192 
159,300 



S 23.895 
545.553 

513.195 
610.913 



1374,686 



264,030 

213.170 



S 62,821 
1 369,827 

1,273.785 
1.-189,206 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in countv, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Eye 

Buckwheat 

Barlev 

Flax 



Bushels in 


Bushels in 


Bushels in 


1880. 


18S5. 


1887. 


2,020 


170.167 


331,440 




134,129 


728.271 


4 724 


219.267 


401,200 


none 


287 


4 a 8 


none 


310 


1.200 


1,185 


6 211 




none 







MISCKLLA VTISTICS. 

Population of countv, 1880, 1,256; 5,940. Lands improved, 1880, 

5,170 acres; 1885, 58,636 acres. Number of farms, 1880,3<4; 1885, 084. 
Average size of farms, 1880, seventeen acres; 1885, eighty-fcix acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, 13.83. Potato crop, 1885, 
33,158 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 11,681 pounds. Dairy and other farm 
products, 1885: milk, 1,250 gallons; butter, 108,'- 47 pounds; cheese, 705 
pounds; eggs, 175,308 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. O. Address. 


County Clerk 

Treasu rer 

Sheriff 

Clerk D istrict Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 


J. K. Smith : 

K. 1). Prescott 

O. O. Stanchfield 

John C. McBride 

John N. Crow 

J. JK. Smith 

J. J . Hannett 


Mitchell 

Mitchell 

Mitchell 

Mitchell 

Mitchell 

Mitchell 

Mitchell. . 


Superintendent of Schools 


H. L. Brass 


Mitchell. .. 


I. Green 

John Tat man 

B. H. t'e nett 


Mitchell 


Coroner 


Mitchell 


f 


a. Platn-r 




1 

Commissioners -{ 

j 


M. M. McDonald 

E. T. Malmsberry 

W. W. Gardner 




I 


John Cook 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



E msley ! Mitchell j Stover 

E than ! Mount Vernon I Victor 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 359 

DAY COUNTY. 



Area, 691,200 acres. Created, February 22, 1879, from part of Stone and 
all of Greeley. Boundaries changed, March 8, 1883, changed again, 
March 10, 1885, part from Clark, part to Marshall. Organized, December 
5 1881, by appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, 
viz: Lansing Sykes, Geo. Brant, and Chauncey Warner. 

Day county lies the second county south of the 46th parallel, and the 
second west of the Minnesota state line. It contains a number of 
lakes within its borders, the largest of which, are Waubay, Blue Dog, 
Prairie, and Lake Parker. Considerable timber grows in the immediate 
vicinity of the larger lakes, notably, Waubay lake. Surface, about equally 
divided between the hills of the "Coteaus" and the prairie and valley 
lands of the lower level. Soil, of the more level portion, a rich, black 
loam, with clay sub-soil. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(mainline.) thirty-seven miles; stations: Waubay, Webster, Bristol, An- 
dover; (An dover line,) thirteen miles; station: Andover; (Madison Bris- 
tol line,) thirteen miles; station: Bristol. Total: sixty-three miles of 
railroad in county. 

Vacant public lands, 34,160 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are four banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank 
of Andover. at Andover, S. W. Webber, president; E. C. Bowen, cashier. 
Bank of Bristol, at Bristol, C E. Dickerman, president; T. E. Egge, cash- 
ier. Bank of Webster, at Webster A. J. Leetch, president; W. W. 
Severy, cashier. Day County Bank, at Webster, J. Alley, president; 
Albert Smith, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Gazette, A. E. Baines, editor and publisher, Andover; Day County 
Herald, G. L. Sharretts, publisher, Webster; Reporter and Farmer, J. C. 
Adams V: Co., publishers, Webster; Independent, W. F. Bostian, editor 
and publisher, Bristol. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Webster, near the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 
1000; school-building, valued at $3,000; congregational, methodist, and 
lutheran church edifices, valued at $9,000: court-house, valued at ?8,000; 
flour-mill, valued at $18,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Andover, in the west; population 500; school-building, valued at $2,000; 
methodist and catholic church edifices, valued at $3,000 ; artesian well. 
Assessed valuation city property, 1887, real and personal, $55,475. Bris- 
tol, between Andover and Webster; population. 500; school-building, 
valued at $2,500; two church edifices, valued at $5,000. 
schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, eighteen; school population, 1,583; 
number of school-houses in district, forty-six; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, four; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $28.80; fe- 
males, $24.62; value of all school property, $25,136.64; expended for school 
purposes during vear ending June 30, 188G, $16,847.32; cash remaining in 
school treasury, Jnne 30, 1886, $1,550.80; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June' 30, 1886, $17,800.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1888, 
$5,216,60. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. I Horses. M \ 1 ® S L aUd Cattle - Sheep - ' Svviue - Valuation. 



Asses. 



i ' I I 

1885 1.841 123 4,181 | 628 | 797 $ 158.569 

1886 2,501 175 I 5.829 1,195 1,393 199.480 

1887 3 242 164 7,511 | 1 ,544 | 1,371 [ 226,208 



360 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

VALUATION STATISTICS. • 



" , Acres Real I Vn1nntl - nll Town Lots Personal Prop-, To v l _ a 1 1 1] .^ ss ^ 

lear - Estate. Valuation. valuation, erty valuation, ^nntv 



1885 115.671 ' $ 226.415 | $ 43,800 6 140,913 | $ 569,727 

1886 143,181 301,569 05,872 196,501 763, 372 

1887 186.859 _ 374,561 74,508 \_ 188,742 864,019 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in count}', for years 1SS0, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in Bushels in Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1S87. 



Wheat none 363,360 ,-75.000 

Corn '■ none 39,884 104.500 

Oats ■ none 285.431 637.000 

Rye none 666 5.520 

Buckwheat none 597 750 

Barley. .'. none 15.223 161.250 

Flax* none 48,620 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, ninety-seven; 1885, 5,001. Lands improved, 
1880, 238 acres; 1885, 74.717 acres. Number of farms, 1880, six; 1885, 1,407. 
Average size of farms, 1880, forty acres; 1885, fifty -three acres. Average 
assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.00. Count v indebtedness, 1887, 
$9,015. Potato crop, 1885, 40,00-1 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 1,849 pounds. 
Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 165 gallons; butter, 134,464 
pounds; cheese, 785 pounds; eggs, 273,812 dozen. 

'NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDKESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



Auditor Thomas Prig ham Webster.. 

Treasurer T. M. Loomis Webster.. 

Sheriff I. J. Hanson [Webster.. 

Clerk District Court J. A. Lee Webster.. 

Probate Judge Ceo. Bryant Andover. 

Register of Deeds C. L. Sharretts Webster.. 

Attorney A. J.Wolfe Webster.. 

Superintendent of Schools A. E. Barker Webster.. 

Surveyor W. Alley Webster.. 

Coroner • II- A. Peabody Webster.. 

Assessor F. J. Cowan Gros 

f J. L, Harris, (chairman) Webster.. 

I L. Hazelden Nutley.... 

Commmissioners •{ T. Lowell Bristol.... 

| J. T. Goodwin Andover. 

t B. H. Egeland Egeland. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, ISS'i 



Andover Gros |Roslyn 

Bristol . Lounsberry Seth 

Butler Lily , Thorson... 

Dayton Lynn Waubay... 

Egeland Nutley Webster. 



DELANO COUNTY. 

* Created, January 11, 1875. Its boundaries were changed March 8, 1883. 
Unorganized. 

Delano, is a county included within the boundaries of the Great Sioux 
Indian reservation. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 361 

DEUEL COUNTY. 



Area, 422,400 acres. Created April 5. 1802. Boundaries changed, Jan- 
uary 31, 1871, part to Hanson; changed again, January 8, 1873, parts to 
Grant, Hamlin, and Renville. Organized, April 20, 1878, by appointment, 
by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Henry II. Her- 
rick, i). ,!. Cochran, and Andrew J. Torgensen. 

Deuel county is situated in southern Dakota, south of the 45th parallel, 
and has the Minnesota state line for its eastern boundary. Principal 
streams are the Yellow Dank river, and Lost, Cobb, and Ilidewood creeks. 
Numerous springs, brooks, and beautiful Jakes, afford an ample water sup- 
ply. Principal lakes are, Cochrane, Fish, Clear, Coteau, North, Two- 
woods, and Luke Alice. Timber grows along the borders of some of the 
larger sheets of water. Surface, rolling prairie, and low broken hills of 
the "Coteaus," which traverse a portion of the county in a northwesterly 
direction. Soil, a dark vegetable loam, from ten inches to three feet in 
depth, underlaid with clay sub-soil. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern railway, (Tracy- 
Watertown line.) twenty-three miles; stations: Goodwin, Altamont, Gary. 
Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern railway, (main line.) twenty-eight 
miles; stations: Palmer, Clear Lake, Toronto. Total miles of railroad in 
fifty-one. 

Vacant public lands. 4,440 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are four banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank 
of Clear lake, at Clear Lake, J. Q. Houts, president; T. F. Han ley. cash- 
ier. Bank of Gary, at Gary, B. A. Wade, president; N. M. Wade, cashier. 
Deuel County Bank, at Gary, M. E. Shelley, president; C. L. Shelley, 
cashier. Sevatson & Jenson, at Toronto. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Deuel County Advocate, A. G. Warner, publisher, Clear Lake; The In- 
ter-State, C. -L Ronald, publisher, Gary. 

COUNTY SKAT. 

Gary, in the east, is the county seat. It has a population of 800; school- 
building, valued at $2,000; methodist and presbyterian church edifices, 
valued at $9,000; public building, valued at $3,000; creamery; flour-mill, 
valued at $25,000. Assessed valuation town property, 1880, 1100,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Altamont, north of the center; population, 100; school-building, valued 
at $500. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, 18.000. 
Clear Lake, south of the center; population, BOO; school-building, valued 
at $3,500; methodist and presbyterian church edifices, valued at $3,000; 
flour-mill, valued at $20,000; cheese factory, valued at $2,500. Assessed 
valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, $38,513. Goodwin in the 
west ; school-building, valued at $2,500; baptist church edifice, valued at 
$2,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, $48,000. 
Toronto, in the south; population, 150; school-building, valued at$l,400; 
church edifices; creamery, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, 
real and personal, $15,957. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, fifty-eight; school population. 1,398; 
number of school-houses in district, fifty-three; number of school-houses 
built-in 1886, four; average month!)' pay of teachers, males, $30.75; fe- 
male's, $28.00; value of all school property, $33,476.00; expended for school 
oses during ear ending June 30, 1886, $21,949.22; cash remaining in 
; ' • 19.37; par amount of school bonds out- 

».30; averag ' interest paid on bonds, 

eight per cent.; outstanding June 30, 1886, 

$1,456.45. 



362 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1880 
1885 
1886 

1887 






VALUATK 


>N STATISTICS. 




Year AC iStat P e ea 1 Valuation. 


Town Lots Personal Prop-.^^JJf^J 
valuation, jerty valuation, county 


1880 


$ 350,614 
575,606 
639,554 
698,438 


> * $ 89,842 


$ 439.9.% 


1885 237,515 

1886 - 248,599 

1887 266,182 


g 83,526 86,806 
49.912 109,289 
51,155 Ins.; 16 


819,242 

989.184 
1,010,629 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in Bushels in 
1880. 188-3. 



Bushels, n 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat 


39.785 
4,807 
29,294 
none 
none 
2.810 
none 


869.832 

14,581 

209,845 

1,246 

1,006 

58,289 


786.661 
32,200 

297.01)0 
2,171 

8.990 


Barlev 

Flax 


70.995 
4.800 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1870, thirty-seven; 1880, 2,302; 1885, 4,403. Lands 
improved, 1880, 8,501 acres; 1885, 59,6(53 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 
450; 1885, 841. Average size of farms, 1880, nineteen acres; 1885, seventy 4 - 
one acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.66. County in- 
debtedness, 1887, $8,243. Potato crop, 18'85, 37,606 bushels. Wool elip, 
1885, 11,212 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk. 505 gal- 
lons; butter,' 176,743 pounds; cheese, 1,732 pounds; eggs, 56,620 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. O. Address. 




Jno. A. ThronsoD 

J oseph Hebal 

Frank E Millard 

Jos. E. Boyer 

Ira H. Case 

T. C. Pe erson 

T. E. Saiih rn 

A. A. Merrill 

John Cronin 


Gary 




Sheriff 


Garj 


Clerk District Conn 


Gary 




Gary 




Gary 


Attorney 

Sit erintenrlent ot Schools 

Surveyor 


Clear Lake 




I lear Lake 


( 


E. J. Gorton 

M. S. Weeks 

C. .!. i eterson 








Commissioners -{ 

| 


1VU"1 


A Itamont 


L 


J. L. Mellon 


Clear Lake 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES L\ r COUNTY, 1887. 

i 

Altamont JGoodwin |Toystad 

Brandt Nordeu roronto 

clea:- Lake Palmer |Willoughby. 

Deuel Scandinavia 

Gary SUjold 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 363 

DEWEY COUNTY. 

("rented, March 9, 1883, from Rusk. Unorganized. 

Dewey is one of the counties contained entirely within the boundaries 
Of the Great Sioux Endian reservation. 



DICKEY COUNTY. 



Area, 7:17, 280 acres. Created March 5, 1881. Organized, July 1, 1882, by 
appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: 
R. C. Olin, A. 11. Whitney, Henry Gesehke. 

Dickey county is situated in the central part of Dakota, midway be- 
tween the Missouri river and the Minnesota boundary line. The princi- 
pal streams are the James river, which traverses the eastern end of the 
county from north to south, and Maple, and Elm rivers draining the cen- 
tral and western portions. A few small lakes and marshes are distributed 
over the eastern part of the county. Surface, a broad, level prairie, river 
valley, and the terraced hills of the Coteau du Prairie, which traverse the 
western end of the county, from north to south. Soil, deep, rich loam. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific railway, (James river val- 
ley line,) eleven miles; stations: Glover, Oakes. Chicago, Milwaukee & 
St. Paul railway, (James River line,) twenty-five miles; stations: Ellen- 
dale, Monango. Chicago & Northwestern railway, (Huron-Oakes line,) 
fourteen miles; stations: Ticeville, Ludden, Oakes. St. Paul. Minneapolis 
& Manitoba railway, (Ellendale extension,) twenty-four miles; stations: 
Crescent Hill, Riverdale, Guelph, Silver Leaf. Ellendale. Minneapolis & 
Pacific railway, (main line,) twenty-eight miles; stations: Oakes, York- 
town, Monango. Total miles of railroad in county, 102. 

Vacant public lands in county, 90,720 acres; "Aberdeen land district, 
19,840 acres; Fargo land dis rict, 70,880 acres. 

BANK'S. 

There are five banks doing business in the county, as follows: Security 
Bank, at Ellendale, C. P. Haseltine, president; T. M. Evans, cashier. 
Gannon, Smith & Co., at Ellendale, F. B. Gannon, cashier. Bank of 
Monango, at Monango, W. A. Caldwell, manager. Bank of Cakes, 
at Oakes, H. C. Sessions, president; T. E. Marshall, cashier. Bank of 
Ludden, at Ludden, S. L. Kemmerer, president; I. J. Kemmerer, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Leader, Moore &Godard, editors and publishers, Ellendale. Commer- 
cial. Bowsiield & Wilson, proprietors, Ellendale. The Times, Ellis & 
Brown, publishers, Ludden. The Oakes Weekly Republican, Ellis & 
Brown, publishers, Oakes. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Ellendale, south of the center, is the county seat; population, 1,000; 
schoo'-building, valued at $5,000; methodist, and presbyterian church ed- 
ifices, valued at $5,000; court-house, valued at 810.000; water-works (ar- 
tesian) system, valued at $8,000; flour-mill, valued at $15,000. Assessed 
valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, 8280,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Ludden, in the southeast; population 400; school-buildings, valued at 
$2,500; church edifices, etc. Monango, west of the center; population 
150; school-building, valued at $500; presbyterian church edifice, valued 
at §2,000. Oakes, in the east; population 500; school-buildings; church 
edifices; flour-mill; grain-elevators, etc Yorktown, northeast of Ellen- 
population, fifty; school-building; methodist church edifice, valued 
at 8800, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, sixteen; school population. 024; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, forty-two; number of school- houses built 
>, ton; average monthly pay of teachers, males. 805.00; females, 
$30.00; value of all school property, $25,220.47; expended for school 
rmrposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $20,711.73; cash remaining in 



364 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



school treasury, June 30, 18S6, $3,347.59; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June' 30, 1886, $20,600.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$1,400.41. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. ; Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 1.606 
' 1886 2.250 
1887 2,739 


209 
259 
249 


1.970 
2.787 
3,549 


815 490 $ 152,236 
400 1,031 1 203.096 
492 763 1 226,990 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



To al as-essed 
valuation of 
county. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



230,793 
283,652 
432,409 



$ G52 080 

991,863 

1,207,848 



$ 78.452 
85.753 
209,940 



§141,094 
222,483 
285,438 



11,024,712 
1.503,195 
1.930,216 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bus- els in 
1887. 


Wheat 


none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


311.836 

338.282 

34.452 

1.943 

8.061 


1,558 322 




135,000 
978,320 


Oats 


Buckwheat 


4.500 


Barley 


122,500 
13,497 


Flax 







MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 3,897. Lands improved, 1885, 
87.077 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 1,396. Average size of farms, 
1885, sixty-two acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2 79. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $22,662 Potato crop, 1885, 03,313 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 1,774 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
milk, 499 gallons; butter, 136,676 pounds; cheese, fifty pounds; eggs, 29,377 
dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS, IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor , Ed. N. Leiby 

Treasurer Cha^. W. Porter. 

Sheriff Thomas C. Rice. 

Clerk District Court T. M. Evans 

Pro r>ate Judge IS. A. Bowes 

Register of Deeds Prank Jerabek... 

Attorney |A. D. Flemington. 



Ellendale.. 

Eliendale.. 

Ellendale. 

Ellendale.. 

Ellendale. 

Ellendale.. 

Ellendale. 

Superintendent of Schools C. A. Kent...." Elleudal >. 

Surveyor |E. J. Hermans 'Ellendale. 

Coroner j B. Thomas Ellendale.. 

f |D. B. McDonald, (chairman) Monango.. 

| |H. J. Mallory Ludden. ... 

J J. P. Walker.*. Ellendale.. 

j [Ceo. W. Towers Ellendale.. 

LTormod Wettre Oakes. 






Commissioners. 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


1887. 


Ellendalk 






Glover 

Guelph 

Hillsdale 


i Ludden 

jMerricourt 

1 Monango 


Ticeville 

\Yr,iL'ht 

Yorktown 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 365 

DOUGLAS COUNTY. 

Area, 299,520 acres. Created, January 10, 1873, from part of Charles 
Mix. Organized, February 16, 1881, by appointment, by the Governor, of 
the following commissioners, viz.: Walter II. Brown, Charles IT. Stil- 
well, and Edward B. Hoyet. This organization was revoked by Govern- 
or's proclamation of July 10. 1882, and new commissioners appointed, viz.: 
("has. E. Huston, Chas. A. Houlton, a?>d Ferdinand Deisterhaupt. 

Douglas is a county of southern Dakota, half way between the James and 
Missouri rivers, and" the second county north of the Nebraska line. Prin- 
cipal stream, is the Choteau creek. Smaller streams lead the drainage of 
the county into the James river, on the west, and the Missouri on the 
south. Surface, a fine undulating prairie. Soil, chocolate colored loam, 
with a porous clay sub-soil. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(Scotland & Armour line,) thirteen miles; stations: Delmont, Armour. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are three banks doing business in this county, as follows: Citi- 
zens' State Bank, at Armour, H. TV. Johnson, president; E. S. Johnson, 
cashier. Douglas County Bank, at Armour, G. W. Lumley, manager. 
Bank of Harrison, at Harrison. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Douglas County Chronicle, T. B. Roberts, editor, Armour; South Da- 
kota Tribune, W. F. Duncan, editor, Armour; South Dakota Tribune, 
Woolman Bros., editors and publishers. Grand View; The Globe, Geo. C. 
Culver, publisher, Harrison; De Xederlandsche Dakotaan, AY. P. Yan- 
DerZan. editor and publisher. New Holland. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Grand View, near the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 
200; school-building, valued at 82.000; methodist church edifice, vabied at 
$1,200. Assessed valuation city property, 1880, $50,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Armour, south of Grand View; population. 500; school-building, valued 
at $3,000; methodist and congregational church edifices, valued at $2,000. 
Assessed valuation city property. 1886, real and personal. 185.000. Del- 
mont, in the east; population, 200; school-building, valued at $1,000. Har- 
rison, northwest of Grand View; population, 200; school-building, valued 
at $2,000; church edifice, etc. New Holland, in the northwest; popula- 
tion, forty; school-building, church edifices, etc. 

schools; ('statistics 1886.) • 

Number of organized townships, fiftteen; school population, 1,120; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, twenty-seven ; number of school-houses 
built in 1886 twenty -three ; average monthly pay of teachers, males, 827.87; 
females, $26.70; value of all school property, $14,446.61 : expended for school 
purposes during year ending June 30. 1886, $18,821.73; cash remaining in 
school treasury".' June 30, 1 386, $1,196.74; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886. $12,500.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$1,825.54. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTIC-. 



Year. Horses. M Asses| Cattle - Sheep. Swine. Valuation. 

694 1.887 8 184.940 

4,167 742 2,039 1G8.653 

4.20(3 494 2.196 179.073 




360 RESOURCES OF DA KOT A 

VALUATION STATISTICS'. 



Acres Real ; v «in«tinn Town Lots Personal Prop-| T( ?M\l J! 

Year - ite. Valnatiou. valuation, eny valuation, cminty; 



83 


S IS 721 


$ 12 


8 < ■ 


287,285 




110,544 






4.845 


1 15.018 


647 419 



1885 

1886 j 117.881 

1887 184^894 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in Bushels in Bushels iu 
1880. 



Wheat none 56,796 147.875 

Corn none 188,025 671.1 

Oats. none 151,004 »,900 

Rye none 656 2,025 

Buck wheal none 989 

Barley none 

Flax none 

MISCELLANEOUS STATIST 108. 

Population of county, 1880, six; 1885, 3,801. Lands improved. 1880, none; 
1885, 71,654 acres. Number of farms, 1880, one; 1885, 873. Average size 
of farms, 1885, eightv-two acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 
L8S7,'$2.G6. County indebtedness, 1887, 18,000. Potato crop, L885 
bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 1,611 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 
1885: milk, 100 gallons; butter, 96,060 pound \ 2,792 pounds; eggs, 

45,905 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFPICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. Nairn 1 . P. O. Address. 



County Clerk K G. Foster Grand View. 

Treasurer P. Eernisse Graud View 

Sheriff llmr\ Thompson tTrand View. 

Clt rk District Court K. G. Foster Graud View. 

Probate J dge W. N. Streeter Oram! View. 

Register of Deeds K. G. Foster Grand View. 

Attorney K. W. <'lii;e Grand View. 

Superintendent oi' Schools L. 11. Parks Grand View. 

Surveyor James A. Punish Grand View. 

Coroner Dr. J. W. Ward Grand View. 

Assessor , Fred Schroder Delmont 

f |J. F. Keeton Grand View. 

j Alex Duncan Grand View. 

Commissioners \ Henry Ruff Grand View. 

| F. Le * 'ocq, Jr Harrison 

[ H. Wilson Delmont 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES l\ COUNTY, 1887. 



Armour 


Flensburg 


Plainview 




Pedah 


Schatzville 




Delra nt 

Grand View 


Hillside 

New Ilol'and 





DUNN COUNTY. 



Created, March 9, 188:.. from Dart of Howard. lis boundaries were 
changed, March 10, 1885, parts to Billings and Villard and parts from Wil- 
liams and' McKenzie. Unorganized. 

Dunn county is situated in northern Dakota, south of the Missouri river 



RESOURCES 01 DAKOTA. 367 

and the second county east of the Montana boundary lino. Principa 
si reams, the Little Missouri and its tributaries, and the < rreen rivei 
face, agricultural and pastoral lands. 
Vacant public lands, 327,680 acres. 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISG [l 

ilatiou of county, 1880, none; 1885. thirty-two. Lands improved, 
►40 acres. Numbei of farm four. Average size of farms, 

1885, 160 acres. 

EDDY COUNTY. 

Area. 414,720 acres. Created, March 9, 1885. from part of Foster. Or- 
ganized, April 15. 1885, by appointment, by the Governor, of the follow- 
ing commi \\/..\ Paul J. Braman, F. J. Dunham, John Prader. 

Eddy county is situated in Northern Dakota, south of the 48th parallel, 
and equally distanl from the Missouri riveron the west, and the Red River 
on the east. Principal streams are the James, and Sheyenne rivers. A 
large number of lakes and ponds are scattered throughout the county^ 
notably in townships 148 and 149, north of range 63. Surface, a rolling, 
undulating prairie. Soil, a fine, productive loam. 

.Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific railway, (Jamestown & 
Northern line,) 19.6 rail< . New Rockford, Tomfinson, Hheyenne. 

Vacant public Lai Fargo land district, .'55,240 acres: 

Devils Lake laud district, 42,240 acres; Grand Forks land district 25,000 
acres. 

KS. 

There is one hank doing business in the county: Bank of New Rock- 
ford, M. II. Dunnell, Dresident; F. A. Sebring, cashier, New Rockford. 

NEWSPAPEKS. 

Transcript, \\ . G. Dunn, editor and publisher, New Rockford. Eddy 
County New Era, C. T. Canfield, manager; N. O. Fanning, editor, New 

Rockford. 

BOUN1 V SEAT. 

Rockford, in the \. mty seat, it lias a population of 

200; school-building, valued at $800; congregational and baptist church 
edifices, valued a1 $1,500; flour-mill, valued at $10,000. Assessed valua- 
tion town property, and personal, $70000. 
hoolh, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, six; school population, 142; number of 
school-houses in district, five; number of school-houses built in 1886, 
two; average monthly pay of teachers, males. $40.00; females. $32.07; 
value of all school property, $3,160.00, expended for school purposes dur- 
ing year endi 678.58; cash remaining in school 
ry, June 30, 1886,1561.31; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
.,000.00; average rat* rest paid on bonds, seven per 
cent; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1 

LIVE STOCK 81 mSTH s. 
Y<.ar. Horsi ittle. Sheep. [lie. Valuation. 



49 681 25 77 

1886 50 771 10 227 

1-7 50 12 188 84,995 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 

-- „ Acres Rial ,. ,, ,,,,-,,, Town Lots Personal Prop- 

^ ear - Valuation. ^ va i ua tiou. erty valuation 



Total a 

lal i 
county 



I-", 44,457 H42 

62.435 201.936 40.972 67,202 

110,591 i,160 



3G3 



EESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels 
1880. 


in 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 

1887. 


Wheat 


none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 




60,953 
370 

57,199 

126 

1,170 


268,000 




520 




135,000 




360 


Barley 


22,000 
2 080 


Flax - 









MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 825. Lands improved, 1885, 
8.796 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 137. Average size of farms, 1885, 
sixty-four acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.31. County 
indebtedness, 1887, $4,738. Potato crop, 1885, 11,420 bushels. Dairy and. 
other farm products, 1885: milk; 202 gallons-; butter, 11,385 pounds; eggs, 
11,515 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 18S7* 



Office. 



Address. 




LIST OP POSTOFFICE-, IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Morris | New Rockfoed. 



| Tiffany, 



EDMUNDS COUNTY 



Area, 437,280 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Boundaries changed February 6, 1885, (tier of unorganized towns added 
to.) Organized, July 14, 1883, by appointment, by the Governor, of 
the following commissioners, viz.: Charles N. Skillman, Lewis F. Dief- 
endorf, Loren A. Barbour. 

Edmunds county lies in central Dakota, south of the 46th parallel, and 
the second east of the Missouri river. It has no large streams within its 
borders, but is amply supplied with water in the shape of branches of the 
Snake river, and numerous ponds distributed throughout the county. 
Surface, broken somewhat, from north to south in the central part of the 
county, by the Coteaus. Sloping east and west from the Coteaus— surface, 
gently rolling prairie. Soil, on the more level land, heavy, productive 
loam. Sub-soil, clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(main line,) forty five miles; stations: Mina, Ipswich, Roscoe, Orono, 
Bowdle; (Roscoe line, south,) fifteen miles; stations: Roscoe, Vermont 
City, (north,) thirteen miles; stations: Roscoe, Hosmer. Total miles of 
railroad in county, seventy-three. 

Vacant public lands, 104.940 acres. 

HANKS. 

lug business in the county, as follows: Bank of 

ihier. Peoples' Bank, at Bowdle, 

W. R. Green, president. Da vies & Easton, at Bowdle. Bank of Roscoe, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



309 



atRoscoe F. M. Hopkins, president; F. A. Googins, cashier Mortgage 
Ban 'and' Investment Co'./at Ipswich E. A Meats, president; V fi 
Mears, cashier. Bank of Ipswich, at Ipswich M. P Beebe president; 
C A Kinney, cashier. Edmunds County Bank, at Ipswich, John L. 
Wells, president; F. W. Cad well, cashier. 

NEWSPAPEES. 

Pioneer, Fred J. Bowman, editor and publisher, Bowdle. Central Dakota 
Democrat, Geo. L. Campbell, editor and publisher, Hosmer. TheGazette, 
\ II Rubles &S. A. Cochrane, editors and publishers Ipswich. Da- 
kota Tribune, A. B. Chubbuck, editor, Ipswich. Herald J. nA .1 arm- 
ley editor Roscoe. Magnet, Bernard & Ranshaw, publishers, Roscoe. 
Journal, W. P. Watson, publisher, Vermont City. 



COUNTY SEAT. 

Ipswich, east of the center, is the county seat. It has a population ot 
1,200; schooi-buiding, valued at 85,000; methodist congregational and 
catholic church edifices, valued at $6,000; water-works (artesian) system, 
valued at |6,5ii0; court-house; flour-mill, valued at $4 0U0. Assessed val- 
uation citv property, 1886, real and personal, ^22o,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Bowdle, in the west: population, 500; congregational church edifice 
valued at 51,200. Powell, south of Ipswich; school- building, valued at 
$600 presbyterian church edifice, valued at $1 200 Roscoe, between Ips- 
wich and Bowdle; population 500; school building .valued at *5,000, 
methodist, and presbyterian church edifices, valued at $10 000. Assessed 
Xtion citv property, 1886, $85,000. Vermont City, in the south; pop- 
ulation, fifteen; school-building, valued at .-0 200. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1880.) 

Number of organized townships, twenty; school population 742; 
number of school-houses in district, twenty- eight; number ot school- 
houses built in 1880, fifteen ; average monthly pay of tea c hers » ^M^-« , 
females §26.30; value of all school property, ^13,913.04; expended lor 
school purposes' during year ending June *i 1686, »6,2U9 f 9 »j , cash remain- 
ing in school treasury, June 3 », 1 0.67 ; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 3o, 188(5, $14,829.00; average rate ot interest paid on 
bonds, eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1880, §236.00. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year'. 



1886 



1885 



Mules anc 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1.146 
1,756 



124 1,048 96 

127 3 887 42 

145 312 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 



289 



156,261 



\cres Real 
Estate. 

176,602 

217.77D 



Valuation. 



$427,200 



, t. Total assessed 

Town Lots Personal Prop- valuation of 
valuation. erty valuation. 



7 
173,024 



$118,493 



county. 
S 693,370 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
18S0 



Bushels m 



Bushels in 

1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Kve 

Buckwheat n01, ° 

Barlev aone 

Bl*3 •• "^"A 









104A81 






370 RESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 

MISCELLANEOUS S TATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 2,422. Lands improved, 1885, 
26,101 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 653. Average size of farms, 1885, 
forty acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.04. Potato 
crop, 1885, 13,026 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 606 pounds. Dairy and other 
farm products, 1885: milk, 723 gallons; butter, 24,891 pounds; eggs, 10,140 
dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOPPICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk J. W. Parmley Ipswich.... 

Treasurer P. W. Cadwell Ipswich.., 

Sheriff J. IT. Hughes I Ipswich.... 

Clerk District Court ;H. S. Mott Ipswich.... 

Probate Judge ; W. O. Stout ; Ipswich.... 

Reg ster of Deeds ..J. W. Parniley Ipswich .. 

Attorney H. C. Bdggs Ipswich . 

Superintendent of Schools |Jno. J. Skahen Ipswich ... 

Surveyor !Jas. H. Dwyer jRoscoe . ... 

Coroner Dr. A. J. Gilson ;Roscoe 

Assessor ... R. J Agnew JTpswich .. 

(Frank K. Wing Cortlandt, 

Commissioners ■< D. W. Jones.. Ipswich .. 

(|L. G. Sims, (chairman) ..jRoscoe 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


1887. 


Bowdle 


[Ipswich 

|Orono 

iPowell 


.[Roscoe 

















EMMONS COUNTY. 



Area, 983,040 acres. Created, February 10, 1879, from original territory. 
Organized, October 16, 1883, by appointment, by the Governor, of the fol- 
lowing commissioners, viz.: James Gay ton, William L. Yeater, and Rob- 
ert S. Whitney. 

Emmons county is situated in central Dakota, on the east bank of the 
Missouri river, and north of the 46th parallel. Principal streams aie the Mis- 
souri river, the western boundary of the county, and the numerous creeks 
flowing westerly, and tributary to the Missouri, notably, Long Lake, Bea- 
ver, and Cat Tail creeks. Considerable timber grows on the bottom lands 
of the Missouri, and along the banks of the interior streams. Surface, 
river bottoms, rolling prairie, and level table land. In the townships 
bordering the Missouri, the country is much broken and hilly for some 
distance back. Soil, of the agricultural lands, rich, black, alluvial deposit, 
very productive. About tw T o townships in the northwest corner of the 
county, are included within the boundaries of the Fort Rice Military res- 
ervation. Deposits of lignite coal have been discovered in Emmons 
county. 

Vacant public lands, 373,740 aores; Aberdeen land district, 57,580 
acres; Bismarck laud district, 316,160 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Emmons County Record, D. R. Streeter, editor and publisher, Wil- 
liamsport; Times, Geo. H. Douglas, editor and publisher, Winona. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Williamsport, north of the center, is the county seat. It has a popula- 
tion of 155; school-building, valued at 11.300; county building, valued at 

$3,300. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Winona, on the Missouri river; population, 150; school-building valued 
at $2,500. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, nine; school population, 243; number 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



371 



of &chool-houses in district, eleven; number of school-houses built in 
1886, four; average monthly pay of teachers, females, $81.80; value 
of all school property, $10,741.38; expended for school purposes dur- 
ing year ending June 30, 188(5, $8,225.86; cash remaining in school treas- 
•y June 30, 1886. 160-4.16; paramount of school bonds outstanding June 



30, 1886, $12,600.00; 

.$319.40. 



amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 









LIVE 


STOCK 


STATISTICS. 






Year. 


S Horses. 

1 


Mules and 

Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 

1887 


722 
646 

897 


61 
69 
67 




2,329 
2,032 

2,407 


2,514 
2,909 
3,21(3 


65 
325 
191 


$ 77,767 
91,167 
95,467 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



i.UUI L'roi'- 

erty valuation., 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



58.439 

67 681 

255.623 



210,852 
213,926 
598,825 



$ 1,503 
12,396 

9,974 



37,228 
42.308 
27.769 



$ 327.347 
362,797 
732.035 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. • 



Bushels in 
1830. 



Bushels in 
1885. 



Bushels in 

1887. 



Buckwheat 

B.irlev 

Flax 




none 
none 

none 


none 
1,115 


800 

12.500 

1,000 




. 





Wheat none 8,773 168,000 

Corn 900 31.188 74.000 

Oats '. 160 41.465 87,500 

Eye none none 500 

, none 

; none 

j none 

MISCELLANEOUS STAT1 STICS. 

Population of countv, 1880, thirty-eight; 1885, 1,046. Lands improved, 
1880, 649 acres; 1885, 17,200 acres. JN umber of farms, 1880, eight; 1885, 355. 
Average' size of farms, 1880, eigbtv-one acres; 1885, forty-eight acres. 
County indebtedness, 1887, #23,81 L Potato crop, 1885, 19,230 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 16,260 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
milk, 16,080 gallons; butter, 88.712 pounds; eggs, 14,469 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTV OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P, O. Address, 


County Clerk 


E. T. Herrick 

S. E. Brindle 




Williamsport 


Sheriff 


Gayton 


Clerk District Court 


C. H. Bumstead 


Winchester 









E. T. Herrick 

H. A. Armstrong 

J. H. Worst 

H.W. Allen 


Williamsport 


Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools .... 

Surveyor 

Coroner 

Assessor 


. ..... 


Williamsport 

Williamsport 


Williams, ort 


G. Haak 

James B. Gay ton, (chairman) 

R, W. child 

W. L. Yeater 


Williamsport 


Commissioners 




a iiliamsport 



Armstrong... 
Buchanan ... 

nanbuiv 

Emmonsburj 
Exeter 



LIST OF POSTOFFTCES IN COUNTY, 1887 



Gayton Willtamsport. 

Gleneoe Winchester 

Livona Winona 

Omie f 

Koop ' 



372 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA, 
EWING COUNTY. 



Created, March 8, 1883, from part of Harding. Unorganized. 

Ewing is in the first tier of counties east of the Montana boundary, and 
the first south of the 46th parallel. Principal streams are the Little Mis- 
souri, and branches of the Grand river. Ewing county isunsurveyed and, 
at present, is occupied only by stock men. 

Vacant public lands, 630,000 acres. Unsurveyed. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885. fifty. 



FALL RIVER COUNTY. 



Area, 1,036,800 acres. Created March 6, 1883, formerly Forsyth. 

Fall Kiver, a Black Hills county, is situated in the extreme southwestern 
portion of the Territory. Principal streams, the south fork of the Chey- 
enne and Fall rivers, arid Horsehead, Hat, Sand, Cascade, and Black Tail 
creeks. The " Hot Springs," the most noted health resort in the Terri- 
tory, are situated in the' northern part of Fall River county. An abund- 
ance of native timber is distributed through the county. Surface, (south 
of the Cheyenne river,) high upland, river valleys, and beautiful, rolling 
prairie. Soil, rich loam, mixed with decomposed gypsum, very fertile, 
and from one foot to several feet in depth. North of the Cheyenne river 
the county includes a portion of the broken and rugged surface of the 
Black Hilis proper, and is rich in deposits of many valuable mineral 
ores. For a more extended description of the Black Hills region, see 
other pages of this publication. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern railway, (Fre- 
mont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley line,) thirty-seven miles; stations: Oel- 
richs, Smithwicks. 

Vacant public lands, 968,000 acres; 920,000 acres unsurveyed. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Hot Springs Star, LaFleiche & Stewart, publishers and proprietors, 
Hot Springs; The Times, John H. Harris, editor and publisher, Oelrichs. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Hot Springs, near the northern boundarv, is the county seat. It has a 
population of 500; school- building, valued at $3,000; methodist church 
edifice, valued at $1,000. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and 
personal, $100,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Oelrichs, in the east; population, 300; school-building, valued at $1,500. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, three; school population, 150; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, one ; number of school- houses built in 1886, 
one; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $50.00; females, $50.00; value 
of all school property, $2,800; expended for school purposes during year 
ending June 30, 1886, $2,228.59; cash remaining in school treasury, June 
30, 1886, $9.75; par amount of school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$2,500; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight per cent. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTIC*. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules andj 
Asses. 



Cattle 



Sheep. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



949 
2,954 
1,432 



23.G03 1.283 

11J81 1,692 

1 3.613 1,053 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 



179 
217 



S395.242 
285,943 
281,057 



Year. 



Acres Eeal 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



2.921 
4.736 
5,604 



$ 18,900 
27.040 
33,168 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



24.935 
28.845 
22.080 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



$ 14.987 
234.407 
164,023 



$454,064 
576,235 

500.328 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



373 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels 
1880. 


in 


B 


ushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 

1887. 


Wheat 


none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 




43 

735 

3,750 


20,000 


Corn 

Oata 

Rye 

Barley 

Flax 


41.400 

30,000 

625 




160 


9,000 
900 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880 none; 1885, 472. Lands improved, 1885, 
15,182 acres. Number of farms, 1SS5, eighty. Average size of farms, 
1885, 190 acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $5.92. County 
indebtedness, 1887, $3,322. Potato crop, 1885, 2,995 bushels. Wool clip, 
1885, 9,900 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885 : milk, 250 gallons ; 
butter, 3,030 pounds; eggs, 6,405 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk K. F. Harris Hot Springs. 

Treasurer W. P. Phillips IHot Springs. 

Sheriff !H. A. Goulard |Hot Springs. 

Clerk District Court O. E. Sawyer IHot Springs. 

Probate Judge C. S. Eastman Oelrichs 

Register of Deeds K. F. Harris [Hot Springs. 

Attorney R. D. Norton IHot Springs. 

Superintendent of Schools W. C. 1 hompson JHot Springe. 

Surveyor R. D. Jennings 'Hot Springs. 

Coroner L. <-. Fuller Hot Springs. 

Assessor E. P. < hilson Oeliichs 

A. S. Stewart JHot Springs. 

Commissioners -{ A. A. Powell ■ Cascade. ...... 

James Smith (Buffalo Gap.. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Cascade | Hot Springs | Oelrichs. 



| Srnithwick«. 



FAULK COUNTY. 



Area, 670,720 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Boundaries changed, March 8, 1883, part to Potter. Organized, October 
25, 1883, by appointment, bv the Governor, of the following commissioners, 
viz.: Thomas L. Haines, Mathevv J. Jarvis, and Harvey A. Humphrey. 

Faulk is a county of southern Dakota, the third south of the 46th parallel, 
and the second east of the Missouri river. Principal stream is the Snake 
river, which heads in the southwestern part, and flows in a northeasterly 
direction through the entire length of the county. Numerous smaller 
streams drain other portions of the county. Scatterwood lake, the only 
sheet of water of any importance, is in the extreme northeast corner, 
and covers an area of, perhaps, 400 acres. Surface, in the Neighborhood 
of the Coteaus, somewhat broken, and sloping in either direction into 
undulating prairie. Soil, of the lower ground, rich, deep loam. The 
eastern two thirds of Faulk county, is in the James river valley region — 
the western portion slopes toward the Missouri. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(Roscoe line,) twenty-five miles; stations: Millard, Faulkton, Orient. 
Chicago <k Northwestern railway, (Watertown-Faulkton line,) forty-live 
miles; stations: Zell, Rockham, Miranda, Faulkton, Burkmere, Seneca. 
Total miles ot railroad in county, seventy. 

Vacant public lands, 20,180 acres. 



374 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

BANKS. 

There are three banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank 
of Faulkton, at Faulkton, Chas. White, president.' Citizens' Bank, at 
Faulkton, J. W. Johnston, president; J. IT. Bottum, cashier. Faulk County 
Bank, at Faulkton, L. M. Sprowls, president; F. A. Seaman, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Independent, C. H. Ellis & Co., editors and publishers, Ellisville; 
Faulk County Times, H.'A. Humphry, publisher, Faulkton; Faulk County 
Democrat, C. W. Dunkle, editor and publisher, Faulkton; Faulk County 
Record, A. E. Evans, publisher, Faulkton; Radiator, H. A. Humphry, 
editor and publisher, Seneca; Sun, L. Q. Jeffries & M. G. Simon, editors 
and publishers, Seneca. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Faulkton, in the center, is the counry seat. It has a population of 800; 
two school-buildings, valued at $3,000; methodist, congregational, and 
presbyterian church edifices, valued at $9,000-; court-house and jail, valued 
at $5,000. Assessed valuation citv property, 18S6, real, $30,000; personal, 
$54,000. Total, $134,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Zell, in the southeast; population, 100; school- building, valued at $400; 
convent of the Benedictine Sisters, property valued at $5,000. 
schools, (statistics 1886.) 

dumber of organized townships, thirteen; school population, 922; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, thirty-six; number of school-houses built 
in 1886, twelve; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $29.84; females, 
$28.11 ; value of all school property, $19,243.68; expended for school purposes 
during year ending June 30, 1886, $14,311.25; cash remaining in school 
treasury, June 30, 1886, $4,734.24; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $19,700.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, seven per 
cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $2,672.65. 











LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 






Year. 


Horses. 


i u 


ules a 

Asses 


ndl 


Cuttle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


1,231 
2,078 
2,248 


! 


112 
169 
166 


1 

i 


1,759 
2,532 1 
4 047 


655 
625 
644 


539 
1,165 

788 


$ 55,261 
103,759 
109,120 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Y I Acres Real I Valuation I Town Lots jPersoiml Prop-j^n^ToTo'f 

lear - I Estate. \aiuation. | valuatiou . | e rty valuation.; county 



1885 179,535 | $ 506,317 $ 5.755 $ 57,212 ! $ 624,545 

1886 213,601 594,585 6,027 82.424 786,795 

1887 250,611 733 0-18 _ 7 ,465 23,373 873,006 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 

1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 


none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


144.308 

46.095 

90,627 

113 

170 
5,072 


534 525 


Coin 

Oats 

Rye 


160.350 

223.125 

13 232 

1.500 


Barley 

Flax..' 


•17 310 
37,485 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, lour; 1885, 3,120. Lands improved, 1885, 
54,036 acres. Number"of farms, 1885, 1,223. Average size of farms, 1885, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 375 

forty-four acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.85. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $2,000. Potato crop, 18S5, 25,034 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 4,862 pound?. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
butter 57,994 pounds; cheese, 530 pounds; eggs, 40,620 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOPFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



County Clerk I. Allen Connvell Faulkton . 

Treasurer C. E. Warner 'Faulkton. 

Sheriff H. I). Chamberliu Faulkton. 

Clerk District Court S. D. Griffee Faulkton. 

Probate Judge C. H. Derr Faulkton. 

Register of Deeds I. Alien Coruwell Faulkton. 

Attorney C'lus. F. Hardy Faulkton. 

Superintendent of Schools A. A. McCoy..." Faulkton 

Surveyor Sherry B. Smith Faulkton. 

Coroner A. F. Gosslee ...Faulkton. 

Assessor A. D. Griffee 

f ("has. Marvin, (chairman) | 

| Alex. Garrick 

Commissioners \ \). S. Smith 

| O. S. Johnson 

[, J. S. Nevins 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


1887. 


Burkmere 

Chain 


LaFoon.... 
Millard.... 
Miranda.. 

Moline 

Myron 

McGrawvi 
Newton.... 




1 ' 

... Orient 

...Roanoke 




iiel".'.".".!.".'.""."!.".'.'."".'.".". 




Ellisville 




FAULKTON 

Ilion 


...Wesley 

.... Ze!l 



FLA NNE RY COUNTY 



Created, March 9, 1883, from part of Wallette. Unorganized. 

Flannery is situated on the northern boundary, the second county from 
the Montana line. Principal stream is the Missouri river, which forms 
the southern boundary of the county. Numerous small tributaries of the 
Missouri, together with lakes of some size, and the ponds of ths Plateau 
du Coteau du Missouri in the north, afford an abundant water supply. No 
Government surveys of the public lands have yet been made in this 
county. The surface of the county is said to be well adapted for farming 
and stock-raising, with a good soil", well drained, etc. 

Miles of railroad in countv: St. Paul. Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, 
thirty-three miles; stations: Siding 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. 

Vacant public lands, l,3i>5,600 acres. 

■ ^NEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county. 1880, none; 1885, sixty- four. Lands improved, 
1885, o,0<)5 acres. Number of farms. 1885, six". Average size of farms, 
1885, 516 acres. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1S87. 



Grin no 11 i Nesbon, 



FOSTER COUNTY 



Area, 414,720 acres. Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Pembina. 
Boundaries changed February 14, 1883, parts of Wells and Griggs; 
changed again March 9, 1885, by the formation of Eddy county from the 
northern half. Organized, September 27, 1883, by the appointment, by the 
Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: E. TV. Brunner. Horace 
M. Clark, L. P. Casey, Under the provisions of the act of March 9, 
1884, Foster county was reorganized by the appointment, by the Governor, 
of two commissioners, viz.: A. O. Elder, and F. G. Barlow. 



376 



RESOTJKCES OF DAKOTA. 



Foster county is in northern Dakota, south of Devils Lake. Principal 
stream is the James river, which flows through the county in a south- 
easterly direction, dividing it into two nearly equal parts. The Pipestem 
and other tributaries of the James, in connection with numerous lakes, 
afford an abundant water supply. Surface, rolling prairie and river valley. 
Soil, the rich alluvial deposit of the James river valley. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific railway, (Jamestown & 
Northern line,) 19.5 miles; stations: Melville, Oarrington, Barlow; 
(Sykeston branch ) six miles; stations: Oarrington, -Boss. Total miles of 
railway in county, 25.5. 

Vacant public lands, 50,440 acres. 

BANKS. 

There is one bank doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Carrington, Oarrington. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The News, J. M..\Viard, editor and publisher, Oarrington. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Oarrington, in the west, is the coumy seat. It has a population of 500; 
school-building, valued at $800; congregational church edifice, valued at 
$1,200; court house, valued at 87,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Melville, on the southern boundary; population, 200; school building, 
valued at $700; congregational church edifice, valued at 81,600. 

SCHOOLS, (STATISTICS 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, seven; school population, 236; num- 
ber of school-houses built in 1886, seven; average monthly pay of teach- 
ers, males, §56.0:); females, $32.67; value of all school property, $7,836.15; 
expended for school purposes, during the year ending June 30, 1886, 
87,537.06; cash remaining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $892.52; par 
amount of school bonds outstanding, June 30, 1886, $4,900.00, 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



Horses. 



329 
572 
548 




Cattle. 



501 

834 

1.106 



Sheen. 



Swine. 



70 


155 


86 


367 




196 



Valuation. 



34.027 

82.560 
83.846 



Year. 



Acres Eeal 
Estate. 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 1 
erty valuation.! 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1885 
1886 

1887 



136.409 
146,600 
212 560 



$395,535 

440,035 
723 300 



9 45.350 
50.845 
52,800 



43.774 
91 699 
86,353 



s 518,686 

665,739 
916.299 



FAEM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for rears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels In Bushels in 

1880. 1885. 



Bushels in 
1887. 



Wheat. 
Corn... 
Oats ... 
Bark- j' 

Flax .. 



133,992 



none 

I 2.500 

none 



64,432 



559.188 

144.000 



. MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, thirty-seven; 1885, 902. Lands improvecL 

188), l^o acres; 1885, 22,126 acres. Number of farms. 1880, three ; 1S85, 419. 
Average size of farms, 1880, sixty-two acres; 1885, fifty-three acres. Av- 
erage assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.98. County indebtedness, 1887, 
$6,856. Potato crop. 1885, 400 bushels. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 377 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IX 1887. 



Office. 



Name. P. 0. Address. 



County Olerk G. L. Farnham Carrington. 

Treasurer E. I>. Strong Carrington. 

Sheriff. Ralph Hall [Carrington. 

Clerk District Court C. K. liregorj' Carrington. 

Probate Judge Geo. H. Estabrook Carrington. 

Register of Deeds G. L. Farnham Carrington. 

Attorney Heber McHugh Carrington. 

Superintendent of Schools Wm. Farquer Carrington. 

Coroner John T.empleton ICarrington. 

Assessor E. T. Guptil Carrington. 

( H. A. Roliday Carrington. 

Commissioners < K. G. Barlow Barlow 

{ !A. 0. Elder 'Melville 





LIST OF rOSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


1887. 




Rarlow 


CJlenfield 


Melville 

















GARFIELD COUNTY 



Created March 13, 18S5. Unorganized. 

Garfield county is situated on the 102° of west longitude, north of the 
Missouri river. All but a very small strip of the eastern portion of this 
county lies within the boundaries of the Fort Berthold Indian reserva- 
tion. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Fort Berthold. 



GRAND FORKS COUNTY. 

Area, 898,560 acres. Created, June 4, 1873, from part of Pembina. 
Boundaries changed, January 12, 1S75, part to Traill; changed again, in 
1881, part to Walsh; changed again, in 1888, part to Nelson. Organized, 
January 4, 1873, and Geo. Winship, Jno. W. Stuart, Ole Thompson, ap- 
pointed commissioners by act of Legislature. 

Grand Forks is a Red River valley county, the third south of the Inter- 
national boundary line. Principal streams, the Red River, the south 
branch of the Forest river, which passes across the northwest cor- 
ner of the county, Turtle river, which drains the bulk of the northern 
and central parts of the county, and the numerous head-waters of the 
Goose river, — all tributary to the Red River of the North. Considerable 
• bodies of timber are found along the Turtle and Red rivers. Surface, for 
twenty miles west of the Red River, may be designated as a vast level 
plain; beginning in town 1-30, north of range 53, west, are a series 
of low, parallel ridges, composed of clay, gravel, and occasionally boul- 
ders, extending in a northwest direction to the banks of the Forest river, 
near the north line of the county. West of this system of hills and 
ridges, extends a broad, level region, perhaps ten miles wide, having a 
splendid soil and known as the Elk valley. Two western ranges of townships 
extend into the region rising toward a plateau, and are somewhat broken. 
Soil, of the Red River valley region, is a rich, alluvial soil, of unsurpassed 
fertility, having a porous sub-soil, specially adapted to the retention of 
moisture. A number of small lakes are distributed over the county. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, 
forty miles; stations: Grand Forks, Ojata, Emerado, Arvilla, Larimore, 
Park River Junction, Shawnee, Niagara; (Fargo-Grand Forks line,) sev- 
enteen miles; stations: Merrifield, Thompson. Reynolds; (Portland 
branch,) eighteen miles; stations: Larimore, Kempton, Northwood; (Park 



378 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

River branch,) twenty-one miles; stations: Larimore, McCanna, Orr, Ink- 
ster; (Fargo and Grand Forks line,) twenty-four miles; stations: Grand 
Forks, Pierson/Manvel, Levant. Total 120 miles. Northern Pacific railroad, 
(Grand Forks-Grafton line,) thirty-four miles; stations: Grand Forks, 
Blooming. Total miles of railroad in county, 154. 
Ya cant" public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are eight banks doing business in this county, as follows: Citi- 
zens' National Bank, at Grand Forks, Win. Budge, president; S. S. Titus, 
cashier. Grand Forks National Bank, at Grand Forks, M. L. McCormack, 
president; Win. O. Mulcalry, cashier. Merchants' Bank, at Grand Forks, 
E. P. Gates, president. Second National Bank, at Grand Forks, Alex. 
Griggs, president; A. W. Clarke, cashier. Bank of Inkster. at Inkster. 
Elk Valiev Bank, at Larimore, A. W. Warren, president; \V. S. Smith, 
cashier. First National Bank, at Larimore, A. J. Bowne, president; E. 
C. Bennett, cashier. Bank of Northwood, at Northwood, Sydney C. 
Lough, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Daily Herald, Geo. B. Winship, editor and publisher, Grand Forks; 
Dailv Plaindealer, W. J. Murphy, editor and publisher, Grand Forks; 
Educational News, A. R. Griffith, editor and publisher, Grand Forks; 
Northwest News, W. R. Bierly, publisher. Grand Forks; Tidende, T. 
Guldbrandson, editor and publisher, Grand Forks; Pioneer, W. M. Scott, 
editor and publisher, Larimore. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Grand Forks, on the Red River of the North, is the county seat. It has a 
population of 7,'K30; two public school-buildings; court-house and jail, city 
hall, engine house, etc., of the total value of §80,000; eight church edifices, 
valued at $40,000; waterworks system, valued at $60,000; electric light 
plant, valued at $5,000; street-railwav contracted for; gas works, valued at 
150,000; two saw-mills, capacity, 200.000 feet per day, valued at $150,000; 
g-mills, valued at $50,000; brewery and malt-house, valued at 
$50,000; two flour-mills, valued at 130,000; boiler- works; foundry; opera 
house; steamboat lines, etc. Assessed valuation city propertv. 1880, real, 
$756,000; personal, $400,000. Total, $1,150,000. The university of north 
Dakota, and TJrsuline academy (catholic,) are located at Grand Forks, 
For- a description of the university, see page 199 of this publication. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Arvilla, in the center; population, 200; school-building, valued at $1,500; 
presbyterian church edifice, valued at $2,700; Arvilla academy, etc. 
For a description of the academy, see page 221, this publication. 
Larimore, west of the center; population, 1,200; school-building, valued at 
$15,000; presbyterian, methodist, and catholic church edifices, valued at 
$8,500; city hall, jail, and engine house, valued at $7,500; flour-mill, valued 
at $40,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, $87,545; personal, 
$72,650; total, $160,195. Northwood, in the south; population, 200; school- 
building, value at $1,500; two church edifices, valued at $3,000. Assessed 
valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $85,000. Reynolds, in 
the southeast; population, 150; school-building, valued at $1,000; metho- 
dist church edifice, valued at $2,000. Thompson, south of Grand Forks; 
population, 150; school-building, valued at $1,500; methodist church edi- 
fice, valued at $1,600. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, ninety-five; school population, 3,379; 
number of school-houses in district, eighty-six; number of school-houses 
builtin'1886, fifteen; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $43.00; females, 
$34.00; value of ail school property/ $131,195.00; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 1886, $58,735.81; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $13,304.91; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $92,800.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$3,241.00. 



1S80 
1885 
1886 

1887 



Year 



RESOURCES OE DAKOTA. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



379 



Valuation. 




VALUATION STATISTICS . 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 

valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



615.378 
646 - ,713 

672.435 



$ 376,068 
2,245 320 

2.542.774 



$ 798 445 
792,768 
957,054 



8 390.743 
750 945 
812.170 



8 766 751 
4.399,384 
4.662.368 

5.076.096 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 



Table showin< 
1885, and 1887. 



FARM STATISTICS. 

product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in > Bushels hi 
1885. 1887. 



Wheat - 9S,362 3.615.7!! 5,460,000 

Corn 511 

Oats ! 72,043 1,408 -000 

Eve \ none 89.311 

Buckwheat ! none 2;;5 

Barley „ 2.001 

MIS US STATIST! 

Population of countv, 1880,0,2-18; 1885, 20,454. Lands improved, 1880, 
42,967 acres; 1885, 315,011 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 1,039; 1885, 
2,885. Average size of farms, 1880, forty-one acres; 1885, 109 acres. 
Average assessed valuation i 1887, $3.78. Countv indebte< 

1887, $23,274. Potato crop, 1885, 365,372 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 0,179 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 33,290 gallons; 
butter, 352,001 pounds: cheese, 8,211 pounds; eggs, 300.3, l dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OK COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Xarne. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor John P. Bray Grand Forks. 

Treasurer A Abrataamseii Grand Forks. 

sheriff. James K. Swan Grand Forks. 

Clerk District Court [Geo. T. Shutt Grand Forks. 

Probate Judge J. M. Cochrane Grand Forks. 

Register of Deeds E. C. Elwood Grand Forks. 

Attorney Win. A. Selbv Grand Forks. 

Superintendent of Schools M A. Shirley Grand Forks. 

Surveyor Alex. Oldham Grand Forres. 

Coroner A. F. Rounsvell Larimore 

I J. J. O'Leary Northwood.... 

I Cbas. freeman Thompson.... 

Commissioners ■{ OmerL. Steele inkster 

j A. Christian! Turtle River. 

| |M. Rueth Grand Forks. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 












Belleville 

Ernerado 

Gilbv 


Kempton 

Larimore 

vicCauna 

rManvel 


Ojata 

Orr 

Reynolds 

Thompson 

Turtle River 










Merrifield 

Niagara 






Walle ... 







380 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

GRANT COUNTY. 



Area, 426,240 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Deuel. 
Boundaries changed, February 15, 1S77, part to Codington; changed again 
March 8, 1883, parts from Roberts and Codington; changed again February 
2, 1SS5, part from Roberts. Organized, June 5, 1878, by the appointment, 
by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Solomon Roberts, 
James G. Lamoreaux, Levi A. Card. 

Grant county is situated on the Minnesota state line, the second county 
south of the 46th parallel. Principal streams are the Whetstone, and 
north and south forks of the Yellow Bank rivers. The county is well 
watered by small streams, and a number of lakes, scattered over its sur- 
face. Considerable timber grows along the streams and in the Coteaus. 
Surface, of the Coteaus, hilly and broken; of the country sloping from the 
Coteaus, gently rolling prairie. The hills of the Coteaus are about fourteen 
miles wide, containing many streams of good water, bodies of timber, and 
excellent hay- meadows— a country peculiarly adapted for stock-raising. 
Soil, between the hills and the eastern boundary of the county, is a rich, 
black loam, enriched by a considerable admixture of lime. A part of the 
northwestern corner of Grant county, equivalent in area to nearly three 
townships, is within the boundaries of the Lake Traverse Indian reserva- 
tion. The southern extremity of Big Stone lake, a large and navigable 
body of water, touches the northeastern corner of Grant county. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(main line,) thirty-four miles; stations: Big Stone City, Mil bank, Twin 
Brooks, Siding; (Whetstone branch,) seven miles; station: Milbank. 
Total, forty-one miles. Minneapolis & St. Louis railway, (main line,) 
twenty-three miles; stations: Wilson, Troy, Revillo. St. Paul, Minne- 
apolis & Manitoba railway, (main line,) twenty-three miles; station: 
Oporto. Total miles of raiiroad in county, eighty-seven miles. 

Vacant public lands, 9,900 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are five banks doing business in this county, as follows: Craig's 
Bank, Big Stone City, D. t. Craig, president; Chas. H. Keith, cashier. 
Grant County Bank, at Big Stone City, B. R. Murphy, president; D. W. 
Fountain, cashier. Bank of Milbank, at Milbank/ Farmers' Bank at 
Milbank, A. M. Knight, president; R. F. Gibson, Jr., cashier. Merchants' 
Bank, at Milbank, A. C. Dodge, president; W. B. Saunders, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Herald, Downie &Neill, editors and publishers, Big Stone City; Grant 
County Review^, H. A. Yolkmar, editor and publisher, Milbank; Index, D. 
M. Evans, editor and publisher, Milbmk; Graphic, Harris & Lyon, pro- 
prietors, Revillo. 

COUNTV SEAT. 

Milbank, north of the center^ is the county seat. It has a population 
of 1,800; school- buildings, valued at $8,000; methodist, congregational, 
catholic, and Scandinavian church edifices; court-house and jail, valued 
at 148,000; water-works system, valued at $26,000; two flour-mills, valued 
at $19,000; bottling-works; creamery, valued at $4,000. Assessed valua- 
tion city property, 1887, real and personal, $340,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Big Stone City, in the northeast; population, 700; school-building, val- 
ued at $3,000; methodist, evangelical, presbyterian, and catholic church 
edifices, valued at $11,000; flour-mill, valued at $15,000; wood-working 
establishment, valued at $3,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, 
real and personal, $104,356. Revillo, in the southeast; school-buildings; 
congregational church edifice, valued at $1,500; grain elevators, etc. 
Twin Brooks, west of Milbaak; population, 250; school-building, valued 
at $1,000; methodist church edifice, valued at $2,600. Assessed valuation 
town property, 1886, real and personal, $62,000. Wilson, in the south; 
population, 100; school-building, valued at $600; flour-mill, etc. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, sixteen; school population, 1,688; 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



381 



number of school-houses in district, fifty-seven; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, ten; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $33.46; females, 
$28.31; value of all school property, $43,275; expended for school purposes 
during the year ending June 30, 1886, $30,559.35; cash remaining in school 
treasury, June 30, 1886, $2,838.27; par amount of school bonds outstand- 
ing June 30, 1886, $38,250; average rate of interest paid on bonds, seven 
per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30,1886, $10,849.23. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1880 
1885 
188G 
1887 



229 
2,602 
3,065 

3.2:;2 



415 

4,217 
5,496 
6,108 



13 

850 

1,062 

1,247 



82 
1,605 
2.052 
1.303 



$153,398 
196.140 
183,957 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1880 
1885 



1887 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



186.345 
206.034 
228.314 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
lerty valuation. 



$ 49.570 
578.669 
668.764 
714,338 



$ 177.505 
212 182 
229,705 



$115,832 
174.024 
230,659 

206,898 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 

$ 165,402 
1,083 596 
1,307.745 

1,334.898 



* 1889, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in 
1885. 



Bushels in 



Wheat 17,804 732,899 672,000 

Corn 18,285 72.518 220.000 

Oats 11.566 391,110 480^00 

Kve none 400 1,840 

Buckwheat ..! none 293 1,500 

Barley 585 52.250 55.000 

Flax ...| : 6,800 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 3,01'); 1885, 6,793. Lands improved, 1880, 
3,601 acres; 1885, 88,474 acres. Number of farms, 1880, eighty-seven; 1885, 
1,039. Average size of farms, 1880, forty-one acres; 1885, eighty-five acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre. 1887, $3.12. County indebtedness, 
1887, $107,550. Potato crop, 1885, 41,124 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 6,304 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 15,331 gallons; but- 
ter, 192,093 pounds; cheese, 3,663 pounds; eggs, 45,799 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor 

Treasurer 

Sheriff 

Clerk District Court 

Prohate Judge 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 

Coroner 

Commissioners •< 



John Douglass ^ Milbank 

F. H. Roberts Milbank 

H. J. Benedict Milbank 

S. A. Stream Milbank 

B. A. Dodge Milbank 

J. C. Knapp Milbank 

Jas. F. Usher JMiibank 

C. S. Amsden Milbank 

W. S. Crowl (Milbank 

Dr. C. E. Daniels Milbank 

B. P. Murphy, (chairman) Big Stone City. 

C. B. Williams Marvin 

W. T. Burraan IMilbauk 



3S2 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 





MlLBANK 


Troy 






Kevillo 


Twin Brooks 






St. Joseph 


Wilson 

lYellow Bank 




Marvin 


|Stockholm 





GREGORY COUNTY. 

Created May 8, 1862. Boundaries changed, January 8, 1873. Unorgan- 
ized. 

Gregory is a county entirely within the limits of the Great Sioux Indian 
reservation, bounded on the south by the Nebraska state line, and on the 
east and north by the Missouri river. 

GRIGGS COUNTY. 



Area, 460,800 acres. Created, February 18, 1881, part from Traill. 
Boundaries changed March 8, 1883, part to Foster. Organized, June 10, 
1882, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following commission- 
ers, viz.: Allen Breed, Roliin C. Cooper, Wm. A. Glines. 

Griggs county is situated in the northern part of the Territory — the sec- 
ond county south of the 48th parallel, and the third west of the 
Minnesota state line. Principal stream is the Sheyenne, which traverses 
the eastern part from north to south. Numerous small streams serve as 
feeders to the Sheyenne, and afford a general supply of water. Lakes 
Jessie, Addie, Sibley, and Red Willow and Clear Jakes are some of the 
largest sheets of water. Timber, such as oak, box-elder, elm, hackberry, 
and bass-wood skirt the Sheyenne river nearly its entire course. Surface, 
except in the narrow limits of the Sheyenne valley, undulating, upland 
prairie. Width of the Sheyenne bottom varies from half a mile to nearly 
a mile. Soil, a black loam, of a depth of about twenty inches, 
with a sub- soil of clay, having an admixture of many components, and 
carrying heavily the alkaline salts, lime and silicious sands. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific, (Sanborn, Cooperstown 
& Turtle Mountain branch) 15.1 miles; stations: Hannatord, Coopers- 
town. 

Vacant public lands, 6,080 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are two banks doing business in this county, as follows: -Griggs 
County Loan and Trust Co., Cooperstown; Lawrence Bros., Cooperstown, 
J. A. Lawrence, cashier. ri 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Courier, Frank H. Adams, editor and publisher, Cooperstown; Inde- 
pendent, J. H. Vallandigham, publisher, Cooperstown. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Cooperstown, near the center, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 500; school-building, valued at $6,000; congregational, baptist, and metho- 
dist church edifices, valued at $5,000; court-house and jail, valued at $30,- 
000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, $73,154; personal, $60,- 
830; total, $133,984. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, ten; school population, 482; number of 
school-houses in district, twenty-seven; number of school-houses built 
in 1886, five; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $38.37; females, 
$36.73; value of all school property, $24,583.78; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 1886, $17,368.33; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $3,006.15; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $14,500.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$12,414 90. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS, 



383 



Year. 


Horses. Ml1 ^| e J nd Cattle. Sheep. Swine. : Valuation. 


1885 
1886 

1887 


597 136 2.26S 385 669 $ 82,195 
1,056 170 2,553 236 1,218 162,1 
1.208 1G2 386 191,«61 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Es ate. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 

1887 



158,122 S 72 

■ 






1,143,979 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



8 67.491 
76 004 
85,981 



Personal Prop-} 
ertyvalm tion.: 



$ 125.507 
199,818 



Total assessed 
valuation of 

county. 

$ 1.003,712 
1,224 
1,621 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 

1880. 



Bushels in 
1885. 



Bushels in 
1887. 



Wheat. 
Corn.... 

Oats 

Rye 

Barley. 
Flax.... 



none 
none 
none 
none 
ni. ue 
none 




444 864 

2.442 

242.446 



42.000 
870 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 2,093. Lands improved, 1885, 
57,137 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 612. Average size of farms. 1885, 
ninety-three acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $4.23. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $57,197. Potato crop, 1885, 28,817 bushels 
Wool clip, 1885, 710 p< Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 

710 gallons; butter, 52,562 pounds; eggs, 11,635 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk Rollef Berg Cooperstown . 

Treasurer Krmd Thompson Cooperstown . 

Sheriff M. L. Michaels Cooperstown 

Clerk District Court J. N. Jorgensen Cooperstown 

Prohate Jud^e Peter E. Nelson Cooperstown. 

Register of Deeds Rollef Berg Cooperstown . 

Attorney Iver Jacobson Cooperstown . 

Superintendent of Schools Theo. F. Kerr Cooperstown 

Surveyor M. A. Uland Cooper town . 

Coroner Dr. <>. F. Newell Cooperstown 

Assessor '. J. W. Feiro Cooperstown 

f Roliin C. Cooper Cooperstown 

| i has. II. Moseley Helena 

Commissioners -{ DeForest Conaut Willows 

j Nels Hemmingson Cooperttown 

[ John Hogenson Ronmess 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 




Cooperstown 

Gallatin 


i 

Hannaford Romness.. 

| Helena Willows 




Jessie 


Ottawa... 1 





HAMLIN COUNTY. 



Area, 345,600 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from parts of Deuel and 
Hanson. Boundaries changed, February 15, 1877, part to Codington. Or- 
ganized, August 12, 1878, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the 
following commissioners, viz.: Jacob Hanson, Magnus Hanson, Louis 
Nelson. 



384 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



Hamlin county is situated in southern Dakota, south of the 45th parallel, 
and the second county west of the Minnesota state line. Principal stream, 
the Big Sioux river, flowing from the north in a southeasterly course, 
through the east end of the county. The Big Sioux is fed, in Hamlin 
county, by a few smaller tributaries. The valley of this river is from one 
to six miles wide. The county contains a half dozen or more lakes, which 
cover, in the aggregate, an area of 15,000 acres; the largest of the^e are 
Lakes Poinsett, Albeit, St. John, and Norden. Quite a growth of timber 
surrounds Lakes Poinsett and Norden. Surface, generally level, or gently 
undulating. Soil, a black, sandy loam, from eighteen inches to two feet 
in depth, underlaid by a good, clay sub-soil. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(Madison & Bristol line,) ten miles, Chicago & Northwestern railway, 
(Watertown-Brookings line,) twenty miles; stations: Castlewood, Demp- 
ter, Estelline. Total miles of railroad in county, thirty. 

Vacant public lands, 2,840 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are three banks doing business in this county, as follows: Ham- 
lin County Bank, at Castlewood, J. P. Cheever, president; PI. H. Curtis, 
cashier. 'Bank of Estelline, at Estelline, W. H. Morehouse, president; 
H. H. Reeves, manager. Commercial Bank, at Estelline, C. P. Gould, 
president; O. E. Anderson, assistant cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Hamlin County Times, Geo. T. Reddick, editor and publisher, Castle- 
wood; Bell, F. A. Parsons, editor and publisher, Estelline. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Castlewood, on the Big Sioux river, is. the county seat. It has a popula- 
tion of 500; two church edifices, valued at $2,500; school-building, valued 
at $3,000; flour-mill. Assessed valuation city propertv, 1886, real, $20,000; 
personal, $15,000; total, $35,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Estelline, in the southeast; population, 400; school-building, valued at 
$2,200; two church edifices, valued at $1,200. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, six; school population, 952; number 
of school-houses in district, forty-one; number of school-houses built in 
1886, four; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $30.38; females, $29.06; 
value of all school property, $31,507.59; expended for school purposes during 
year ending June 30,1886, $19,144.93; cash remaining in school treasury, 
June 30, 1886, $1,675.50; par amount of school bonds outstanding June 
30, 1886, $24,472; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight per cent; 
amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $4,012.85. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


jMules and 
Asses. 

1 1 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 


199 
1.681 
1.981 
2,144 


14 
93 
96 
99 


228 
3,568 
4,319 
4,812 


146 

1,063 

722 

1,373 


44 
1,754 
2.051 
1.296 


* 


1885 
1886 
1887 


$ 110.286 
147.694 
139,592 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Acres Real 
Estate. 


Valuation Town Lots [Personal Prop- 
Valuation, valuation, erty valuation. 


Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 


1880 




$ 123,844 !*$ 21,303 


$ 145,147 
867.461 
966.124 
966,571 


1885 
1886 
1887 


120.595 
140.187 
165,945 


561.661 $ 58.340 137 174 
610.297 50,285 157.848 
645,395 49.233 132.351 



1880, personal property includes live stock. 



RESOURCES OE DAKOTA. 



385 



FARM STATISTIC*. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushpls in 
1880. 



Bushels in 
1885. 



Bushels in 

1887. 



Wheat | 9.499 434,937 700,001) 

Corn 1,885 14.110 49,500 

Oats ■. 10,043 256,746 450 000 

Rye none 505 2.250 

Buckwheat 100 772 1.275 

Barley 1,700 64,295. 125,000 

Flax _jlone ! 20,000 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 693, 1885, 3,757. Lands improved, 1880, 
6,275 acres; 1885, 64,110 acres. Number of farms, 1880, ninety-six; 1885, 
672. Average size of farms, 18S0, sixty-five acres; 1885, ninety-five acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.88. Countv indebtedness, 
1880, $5,130. Potato crop, 1885, 43,099 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 5,730 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 6,300 gallons; butter, 
88,886 pounds; cheese, 470 pounds; eggs, 35.983 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. O. Address. 


County Clerk 

Treasurer 


I. C. Gilbertson 

H. P. Horswill 

A. A. Horten 

John E. Hanna 

L. F. King 

I. C. Gilbertson 

E. C. Webber 

Thos. Ward 

C. E. Andrews 


castlewood 

Castlewood 


Sheriff. 

Clerk District Court 


Cnsilewood 

Castlewood 


Probate Judge , 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 

Coroner 


Castlewood 

Castlewcod 

Castlewood 

Flowerfield 

! 


Q. W. Daniels 

William Marshall 

Robert Dixon 

Jacob Cass 


Esielline 


Commissioners < 


Castlewood 

Dixon 

lEstelline 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Castlewood lEstelline Opdahl. 

Dempster Hayti Otto 

Dixon Kellerton Seward. 

Elkhorn Nora 



HAND COUNTY 



Area, 983,040 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Boundaries changed, February 22, . 1879, part of Burchard annexed; 
changed again, February 24, 1881 ; changed again, March 1, 1881; changed 
again in 1883, part to Hyde, part from Hyde. Organized, July 10, 1882, by 
the appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: 
G. W. Livingstone, John M. King, Frank G. AYilkins. 

Hand is a county of southern Dakota, south of the 45th parallel, and 
the third east of the Missouri river. Principal streams are, the Turtle 
liver, and AVolf, Ree, and Turtle creeks. Numerous smaller tributaries of 
these streams, and a number of ponds and small lakes make the county a 
well-watered one. Surface, of the north part of the county, generally 
uniform and smooth prairie, except at the north boundary, where the foot- 
hills of the Bald mountains and Garfield Peak are reached. The Wes- 
sington hills extend from a point about six miles west of Wessington sta- 
tion, in a southeasterly direction, to the southeast corner of the county. 
The slope of the plateau toward the east is broken into innumerable 
ravines, through which flow a great number of small streams, fed by 

(13) 



386 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

springs. The Ree hills, in the western part of the county, cover an area 
of about twenty-five square miles, and are elevated above the surround- 
ing prairies from 100 to 150 feet. Soil, throughout the whole valley, a 
black, rich, vegetable loam, varying in depth from one to three feet, with 
a substratum, generally, of yellow clay, impregnated with lime and mag- 
nesia. A part of two townships in the southwest are contained within 
the boundaries of the Winnebago Indian reservation. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern railway, (main 
line,) thirty-one miles; stations: Silex, St. Laurence, Miller, Ree Heights. 

Vacant public lands, 16,480 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are five banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
St. Lawrence, at St. Lawrence, W. H. Waters, president; R. C. Anderson, 
cashier. Citizens' Bank, at Miller, R. C. Anderson, president; W. H. 
Waters, cashier. Hand County Bank, at Miller, J. C. Yetzer, president; 
A. D. Hill, cashier. Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, at Miller, Charles 
Morrill, president: Fred. S. Morrill, cashier. Ree Valley Bank, at Ree 
Heights, G. W. Clayton, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Spring Lake Star, E. A. Williams, publisher, Dean; Chronicle, Adams 
Bros., editors and publishers, Howell; Republican, J. M. Templeman, 
proprietor, Miller; Hand County Press, Kephart & Bushfield, editors and 
publishers, Miller; Gazette, J. M. Gass, editor and publisher, Miller; Da- 
kota State Journal, S. L. Sage, editor and publisher, St. Lawrence; Satur- 
day Tribune, Chiquet & Waggoner, publishers, St. Lawrence; Ree Valley 
Free Press, S. V. Ghrist, editor and publisher, Ree Heights. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Miller, near the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 800; 
school-building, valued at $5,000; presbyteri^n, catholic, and methodist 
church edifices, valued at $45,000; court-house and jail, valued at $4,000; 
opera-house, valued at $4,000; flour-mill valued at $15,000; flax-mill; water- 
works (artesian) svstem, valued at $20,000. Assessed valuation city prop- 
erty, 1886, real, $88,775; personal, $40,186; total, $128,961. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Ree Heights, in the west; population, 450; school-building, valued at 
$2,700; congregational church edifice, valued at $1,500; water-works sys- 
tem, valued at $5,000; artificial stone-works, valued at $1,000. Assessed 
valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $85,000. St. Lawrence, 
east of Miller; population, 600; school-building, valued at $4,000; presby- 
terian and methodist church edifices, valued at $5,000; public buildings, 
valued at $3,000; artesian well, valued at $4,500; two flour-mills, valued at 
$50,000; brick-yard. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real and per- 
sonal, $113,000. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, thirty-six; school population, 1,927; 
number of school-houses in district, ninety-three; number of school- 
houses built in 1886, thirty; average monthly pay of teachers, males, 
$31.05; females, $27.35; value of all school property", $60,986.36; expended 
for school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $37,787.60; cash re- 
maining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $5,385.42; par amount of school 
bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $53,900; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $7,674.38. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


! Horses. 

i 


Mules and; 

•j Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 




1885 
1886 
1887 


3,612 
4,161 
4,199 


529 

j 540 I 

400 


4,407 
6,222 
7,411 


642 

840 

1,125 


1,467 
2,172 
2.063 


$ 264,206 
312,919 
258.351 





RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 387 

YA LUATION STATISTICS. 

voo,. Acres ^eal Voln , Hf , n i Town Lots Personal Prop- T ° l f 1 1 , 1 f i t s ! se ^ se( l 

^ ear - Estate. Valuation. | valuation . | e rty valuation. JjJjJ^ 011 of 



1885 378,096 j $ 904.988 $ 125,198 8 262,098 

1886 1 412,671 1,174,429 125,995 1 311,444 

1887 j 455,419 1,090,770 148.117 370,932 


S 1.556.490 

1,924.787 
1,868,170 


FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 


• Bushels in Bushels in Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat .| none 'not reported! 640,718 

Corn none not reported; 524,556 

Oats none not reported 331.412 

Rve , none not reported; 36.204 

Buckwheat none not reported 3,300 

Barley none not reported 31.807 

Flax none not reported, 22,014 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 153; 1885, 7,057. Average assessed valuation 
per acre, 1887, $2.40. County indebtedness, 1887, $27,640. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



County Clerk S. S. Keeler Miller 

Treasurer B R. Howell Miller 

Sheriff Peter E. McCray Miller 

Clerk District Court Chas. W. Bowne Miller 

Probate Judge F. E. Parish Miller 

Register of Deeds S. S. Keeler Miller 

Attorney John L. Pyle Miller 

Superintendent of Schools E. H. Wood Miller 

Surveyor G. A. Gray Miller 

Coroner Dr. H. Hewling Miller 

Assessor A. Sebring Mill r 

f JobnM. King St. Lawrence 

I F. D. Ensign Ree Heights.. 

Commissioners -j Levi Harris Howell 

Clws. Thompson Bailey 

(,'J. A. Woolhiser, (chairman) St. Lawrence. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 18537. 


Ames 

Bailey 


'Eagle 

Elizabeth 


Melbourne 

Miller ... 


Florence 

Glendale 

Hand 

Helmick 

Hopeland 

iHowell 




Burdette 

Cedfer 


Ree Heights 




Silex 


Dan forth 

Dean 


tSweetland 

Volney 



HANSON COUNTY. 



Area, 230,400 acres. Created, January 13, 1871, from parts of Brookings, 
Deuel, and Minnehaha. Boundaries changed, Januaiy 8, 1873, parts to 
Davison, Harnlin, Kingsbury, Lake, McCook, Mercer, Miner, Spink, Clark, 
and Stone; changed again, February 22, l$k), part of Cragin annexed; 
changed again in 1881, part of Davison. Organized, January 13, 1871, and 
Geo. E. Vernon, G. H. Whetmore, Jno. Coffrey, appointed commission- 
ers, and Rockport, (old Fort James,) designated as county s^eat, by act of 
Legislature. 

Hanson, a James river county is situated in southern Dakota, in the 
third tier of counties north of the Nebraska boundary line, and the third 



388 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



west of the Minnesota state line. Principal stream is the James river, 
which flows through the southwest part of the county. Rock, Chalk- 
stone, and Pierre creeks, are tributaries of the James, from the north 
and east. Black Earth or Wolf creek, is a stream of considerable size, 
flowing through two of the eastern townships, and Twelve Mile creek 
waters the extreme southwestern township. Surface, generally, undulat- 
ing, and gently rolling prairie. Land bordering on the streams, more 
broken, and in places quite hilly. Soil, a rich, black loam, averaging 
about two feet in depth, with a clay sub-soil. A few lakes and ponds are 
found in the northeastern portion "of the county,— the largest of which, 
Long lake is a sheet of water about four miles in length and half a mile in 
width. The Sioux Falls quartzite, a valuable building and paving stone, 
crops out along the James river, notably at Rockport and Redstone. _ 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(main line,) twenty miles; stations: Emery, Alexandria, Burton. Chica- 
go, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railway, (main line,) eighteen miles: 
station: Fulton. Total miles of railroad in county, thirty-eight. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are two banks doing business in this county, as follows: Far- 
mers' Bank, at Alexandria, I. J. Gray, president; M. C. Whitney, cashier. 
Hanson County Bank, at Alexandria, Donald Grant, president: E. P. 
Brown, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Advocate, Dil worth & Parshall, editors and publishers, Alexandria; 
Herald, L. C. Taylor, editor and publisher, Alexandria; Journal, M. J. 
Simpson, editor and publisher, Alexandria; American Swineherd, James 
Baines, editor and publisher, Alexandria. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Alexandria, in the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 
1 000; school-building, valued at $2,500; presbyterian, catholic, methodist, 
episcopal, congregational, and baptist church edifices, valued at $18,000; 
court-house and jail, valuedat 115.000; sewerage system; flour-mill, valued 
at $5,000; creamery, valued at $3,500; music hall, valued at $5,000. 
Assessed valuation citv propertv, 1887, real, $101,794; personal, $91,040; 
total, $192,834. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, fourteen; school population, 1,041; 
number of school-houses in district, fifty -two; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, eight; average monthly pay of teachers", males, $27.70; 
females, $27.11; value of all school property, $43,250.00; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, 120,407.53; cash remain- 
ing in school treasury June 30,1886, $3,449.01; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30, 1886, $29,650.00; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, eight per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $432.04. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Hories. 



Mules and ; 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



Year. 



1880 
1885 



1887 



514 
2,019 
2,876 

2,690 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



138.733 
151,236 

168.726 



121 
113 
116 



1,155 
4,808 
5.224 
5,534 



3.353 
2.996 
2.31 H l 



321 

3.467 
2,780 
2,494 



S 136.091 

156.531 
159.777 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots j Personal Prop- 1 T ® ta , 1 t . 
valuation. erty valuation.; county 



36.156 
502,469 
631,707 
706,904 



9 96.378 
78,916 
83,117 



* $ 24,979 
110.109 
181.229 
173,386 



$ 61,135 

845.047 

1. 048^83 

1,123.184 



1880, personal property includes live stock. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 389 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for vcars 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 

1880. 



Bushels in Bushels in 
1885. 1887. 



Wheat 3,674 229,099 360.000 

Com 3,625 176,236 560 000 

Oats 6,615 297,052 350.000 

Rye none 2.723 8,000 

Buckwheat "one 807 180 

Barlry 156 20,474 105.000 

Flax.! none 70.000 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 1,301; 1885, 3,933. Lands improved, 1880, 
12,877 acres; 1885, 57,309 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 282; 1885, 
774. Average size of farms, 18S0, forty-six acres; 1885, seventy-four acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $4.19. County indebted- 
ness, 1887, $16,616. Potato crop, 1885, 27,801 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 
9,191 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: butter, 153,781 
pounds; cheese, 400 pounds; eggs, 70,601 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOPPICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 

Countv Clerk Geo. E. Foster Alexandria 

Treasurer P. F. Wick hem Alexandria 

Sheriff .. ..." Thos. J. Wilson Alexandria 

Clerk District Court Thos. R'. Flick Alexandria 

Probate Judtre |Jas. K. Hochkins Alexandria 

Register of Deeds (>eo. E. Foster Alexandria 

Attorney R. M. Dott Alexandria 

Superintendent of Schools Jap. H. Petrie Alexandria 

Surveyor B. B. Colborne Alexandria 

Coroner M. S. Wilson Alexandria 

Assessor Henry Gordon ! Alexandria 

i Wm. S. Logan Hazelton 

Commissioners 1 M. Sansen Alexandria 

I A. B. Brown Alexandria 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887, 



Alexandria Fulton Redstone. 

Bard Hazelton Kockport. 

Emery ...- May wood ._. 



HARDING COUNTY 



Created, March 5, 1881, from original territory. Boundaries changed, 
March 8, 1883, parts to Burdick and Ewing. Unorganized. 

Harding county is situated on the western boundary of the Territory, 
and just north of" the Black Hills. Principal streams are the Little Mis- 
souri and the Moreau rivers, and their tributaries. None of the public 
land in Harding county is surveyed, and, as yet, are occupied only as 
stock ranges. 

Vacant public lands, 630,000 acres. UnsuTveyed. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 

Macy. 



HETTINGER COUNTY 



Created, March 9, 1883, from part of Stark. Unorganized. 
Hettinger is a county of western Dakota, the second east of the Mon- 
tana boundary line, and just north of the 46th parallel. Principal streams 



390 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

are the Cannon Ball and the north fork of the Cannon Ball rivers, and 
Chanta Peta and Coal Bank creeks. No Government surveys have yet 
been made in Hettinger county, but much of the land is broad and smooth, 
with an extremely fertile soil. There is quite a fringe of timber border- 
ing on the streams. Lignite coal, lime-stone, building-sand, and good 
water abound. 

Vacant public lands, 614,400 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Rainy Buttes Sentinel, Mead & Avers, editors and publishers, New 
England City. 

FARM STATISTICS. 



Table 
1885, an 


showing 
d 1887. 


product of field crops, on 


farms in 


county, for 


years 1880, 






Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 

1887. 


Wheat.... 

Corn 

Oats 

Barley ... 




:::::::::::::::::::::r:::::::::: ::::: 


none 
none 

11011b 

none 




none 
none 
none 
none 


125 
150 
200 
80 






LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


1887. 








New England C 


ity. 









HUGHES COUNTY. 

Area, 495,360 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Boundaries changed in 1883, part to Hyde. Organized, November 20, 
1880, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following commission- 
ers, viz.: Joseph Reed, W. P. Ledwich, and Geo. L. Ordway. 

Hugnesisa county of southern Dakota, bounded on the west and south 
by the Missouri river, and the north by the 3d standard parallel. Prin- 
cipal stream is the Missouri river, which washes the western and 
southern border, for a distance, including its Avindings, of about seventy- 
five miles. Tributaries of the Missouri in Hughes county, are Medicine 
creek, which flows west for fifteen miles, near to, and parallel with the . 
north line of the county, and then turns and runs nearly south to its junc- 
tion with the Missouri ; Chapelle , and Spring creeks. A number of smaller 
streams, fed by springs, flow into these rivers and creeks. A 
considerable growth of native timber borders the banks 'and covers the 
islands of the Missouri river. Some timber is also found along the course 
of the smaller streams. Surface, high, rolling prairie, river and creek 
bluffs, and bottom lands. The Missouri bluffs adjacent to the river, are 
quite rugged and broken, rising to heights of from 150 to 300 feet above 
the stream. Medicine Butte, a few miles southwest of Blunt, is an im- 
mense, isolated hillock, flanked by lesser ones, towering some 500 feet 
above the bed of the Missouri river. Soil, a rich and productive black 
loam — with clay sub-soil. About seven townships, in the southern part of 
the county, are within the boundaries of the Winnebago Indian reserva- 
tion. 

Miles of railroad in county : Chicago & Northwestern railway, (main 
line,) forty-seven miles; stations: Harrold, Clearwater, Blunt, Canning, 
Rousseau, Norbert, Pierre. 

Vacant public lands, 4,800 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are ten banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Blunt, at Blunt, C. N. Lukes, cashier. Citizens' Bank, at Blunt, R. W. 
Beebe, president. Hughes County Bank, at Blunt, N. C. Warren, pre^t- 
dent; E. C. Garvin, cashier. Bank of South Dakota, at Harrold, Thos. H. 
Leach, president; Moses Young, cashier. William Summerside, at 
Harrold. Bank of Pierre, at Pierre, C. G. Robinson, cashier. Citizens' 
Bank, at Pierre, S. S. Clough, president; Eugene Steere, cashier. Dakota 
Central Bank, at Pierre, T. W. Pratt, cashier. Traders' P>ank, at Pierre, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



391 



H. M. McDonald, president; W. W. McDonald, cashier. First National 
Bank, at Pierre, FredT. Evans, president; W. G. Nixon, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Advocate, Advocate Publishing company, publishers Blunt; Dakota 
School Journal, Henry Hoffman, editor and publisher, Blunt; Free Press, 
J. C. McManima, editor, East Pierre; Collegian, presbyterian college fac- 
ulty, publishers, East Pierre; Star, H. O.Besancon, editor and publisher, 
Harrold; Sentinel, Sentinel Publishing company, publishers, Harrold; 
Signal. E. B. Miller & S. G. Dewell, editors, Pierre; Dakota Journal, Da- 
kota Publishing company, publishers, Pierre; Dakota Ruralist, Geo. C. 
Crose, editor, J. C. McManima, manager, Pierre. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Pierre, on the Missouri river, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 2,000; school-building, valued at $5,000; congregational, presbyterian, 
methodist, catholic, and episcopal church edifices, valued at $20,000; court- 
house, jail, city hall, and fire department houses together, valued at $43,- 
000; street railway, valued at $15,000; water- works system, valued at $75,- 
000; flour-mill; brewery; public hall; two paddng houses; brick-yard, etc. 
Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, $489,000; personal, $175,000; 
total, $864,000. For a description of the Pierre university, see page 217 
this publication. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Blunt, in the north; population, 1,000; school-building, valued at $5,000; 
presbyterian, methodist, and baptist church edifices, valued at $6,000; 
opera house, valued at $7,000; two flour-mills, valued at $40,000. Assessed 
valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $110,000. Canning, east 
of Pierre'; population, 150; school-building, valued at $2,500; church edifice, 
valued at $1,500; flour mill, valued at $3,500; sorghum manufactory, etc. 
Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $40,000. Har- 
rold, in the northeast; population, 250; school-building, valued at $2,200; 
water- works system, valued at $2,400. Assessed valuation town property, 
1886, real and personal, $50,000. Rousseau, between Pierre and Canning; 
population, fifty; school-building, valued at $750. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, fifteen; school population, 1,026; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, thirty-five; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, five; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $45.00; females, 
$33.86; value of all school property, $25,411.91; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 1886, $23,543.23; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $6,034.69; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $12,900,00; ayerage rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$569.30. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


! Swine. 

1 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


1.315 

1,482 

| 1,297 


146 
125 
111 1 


1,447 
2,211 
2,679 


25 

86 

832 


617 
1,066 I 
835 


$ 93,131 
109,103 
102,974 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



i Personal Prop- 
jerty valuation, 



Total 
valuation of 
couuty. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



166.630 
186,011 
181,570 



$ 465,334 
577,544 
515,452 



704.968 
604,476 
666,908 



i $ 190,926 
I 249.867 
j 191.313 



$ 1,454,358 
1,540,990 
1,476,647 



392 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA, 



FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
18S0 



Bushels in 
1885. 



Wheat none 68,301 300,000 

Corn 1.160 57,018 137 50C 

Oats none 70,630 231.250 

Rye none 890 8.250 

Buckwheat none 1,256 1,200 

Barlev none 2,147 11900 

Flax none „_. 12,288 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 268; 1885, 5,2(58. Lands improved, 1880, 146 
acres; 1885, 5G,587 acres. Number of farms. 1880, twenty-nine; 1885, 965<; 
Average size of farms, 1880, five acres: 1885, fifty-nine acres. Average 
assessed valuation per acre, 1887, 82.83. Countv indebtedness, 1887, 
$57,035. Potato crop, 1885, 29,764 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 267 pounds. 
Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 9,461 gallons: butter, 19,158 
pounds; cheese, 456; pounds; eggs, 59,574 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 




Name. 




P. O. Address. 


County Clerk 

Treasurer 

Sheriff 

Clerk District Court 




James S. Sebree 

Everet B. Palmer 

Geo. W. Harris 

Dell Toy 

William '-Tough 




Pierre 

Pierre 

Pere 

Pierre 

Pierre 






Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools 


Coe. I. Crawford 

Crosby G. Davis 

Chas. Leischer 

Dr. C. C. Spr*gue 

Samuel C. Hayes 

A. D. Marriott 

W. S. Wells 




Pierre 


Coroner 

Assessor 

Commissioners 


I 


Pierre 

Pierre 


Pierre 


\ Thos. H. Green 


Harroid 


LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


in 1SS7. 




Blunt 


.. DeGrey 


Oahe. 

.... PlERR 




Bussard 


.. Gic 


t Pierre 


E 


Ldinsrs 


Rouss 

shiloli 


:au 


Clearwater 


.. Harroid 
















HUTCHINSON COUNTY 



Area, 552,960 acres. Created May 8, 1862. Boundaries changed. Jam 
ary 13, 1871; changed again, January 8. 1S73, and changed again Februan 
22 1879, Armstrong annexed. Organized. January 13, 1871. T. J. Max- 
well, Jno. Brey. and Henry Maxwell were appointed commissioners, and 
Maxwell City designated as the countv seat, by act of Legislature. 

Hutchinson, a James river county, is situated in southeastern Dakota, 
being the second county north of the Nebraska boundary line, and mid- 
way between the Missouri river on the west, and the Big Sioux river on 
the east. Principal stream, the James river, which flows through the 
county, from north to south, dividing it into two nearly equal divisions. 
Smaller streams, affluents of the James river, such as Wolf, Red Earth, 
Furlong's, Dunn's, Schamberg's, Ulmer's, Dawson, Ferguson, Lone Tree, 
Dry, Pony, Coffee, and Twelve Mile creeks, furnish an abundant supply 
of water to nearly every section of the county. Silver lake — the largest 
sheet of water — is in the' northeast corner. Surface, a fine rolling prairie, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



393 



except in the neighborhood of streams, where it is more broken and un- 
even. Soil, the rich, black loam, of the .lames river valley, with a bluish, 
or yellow, clay sub-soil. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(Scotland & Armour line,) sixteen miles; station: Tripp; (Mitchell & Tripp 
line,) twenty-one miles; stations: Tripp, Parkston; (Running Water 
branch,) twenty-one miles; stations: Freeman, Menno. Total miles of 
railroad in county, fifty-eight. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are two banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Park-ton, at Parkston, Jacob SchaetzeL, president; Wm. Schaetzel, cashier. 
Menno Bank, at Menno. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Herald, Williams Bros., publishers, Olivet: Rural Voice, A. Sheridan 
Jones, editor and publisher, Olivet; German American, Freeman; School 
and Home, A. Sheridan Jones, publisher. Olivet; Parkston Advance, 
Hippie & Fletcher, publishers, Parkston; Patriot, H. A. Pike, editor, 
Parkston; Budget, Tripp. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Olivet, on the James river, is the county seat. It has a population of 
200; school- building, valued at $2,000; christian and methodist church 
edifices; court-house and jail, valued at $5,000. Assessed valuation town 
property, 1886, real and personal, 350,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Menno, east of Olivet; school-building, valued at $2,000; catholic, luth- 
eran, German reformed, church edifices; creamery, valued at 31,000. 
Milltown, in the north; population, eighty; school-building, valued 
at $5700; united brethren church edifice, valued at -Si, 500; flour-mill, val- 
ued at 810,1.00. Tripp, in the southwest; population, 200; school-building, 
valued at 81.500: German lutheran church edifice, valued at §1,000; cream- 
ery, valued at $1,000. Parkston, north of Tripp; population, 250; school- 
building, valued at 81,800; catholic and methodist church edifices, valued 
at $3,500. Assessed valuation town property, 1887, real and personal, 
$55,000. 

SCHOOLS, (STATISTICS 1880.) 

Number of organized districts, eighty-one; school population, 2.914; 
number of school-houses in district, sixty-two; number of school- houses 
built in 1880, five; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $29.10; females, 
$25.25; value of all school property, $29,905.46; expended for school pur- 
poses, during year ending June 30, 1880, 821,017.20; cash remaining in 
school treasury". June 80, 188(5. $5,290.92; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1880,317,005; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1880, 
$2,123.06. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and 

Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine, 



Valuation. 



1880 


2,373 


72 


6.165 


1885 


5,026 


104 


12 954 


188G 




106 


13.346 


1887 


6 083 


120 


15.886 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



11,940 

19.034 

12,301 
11.280 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



2.442 
4,888 
5.431 

7.254 



8 504.370 

507.109 
559.701 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1880 8 102.940 

1885 207.827 1.168.452 8 30,957 

1886 324.140 1,403,749 

1887 349.878 1.740,897 52,017 
• 1880, personal property includes live stock. 



t 296 041 


$ 398.987 


! 7 


1,988.485 


175.070 


2.115,984 


339.278 


2,692,493 



394 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA, 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bush' Is in 



Bushels in s Bushels in 

1885. 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye : 

Buckwheat 

Barlev 

Flax 



135 364 
53.256 
65,768 
950 
40 
18 478 
none 



235 347 

252 563 

449 004 

3,175 

475 

20,289 



480.555 
885 144 
6S0.174 

12.474] 
2,527 

50,752 
2*2,800 



M I SCE L LA X EO US STATISTICS . 

Population of county, 1870, thirty- seven; 1880,5,573; 1885, 9,006. Num- 
ber of farms, 1880, 960; 1885, 1,404. Lands improved, 1885, 119,850 acres. 
Average size of farms, 1880, 147 acres; 1885, eighty-five acres. Average 
assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $4.98. Countv indebtedness, 1887, $209. 
Potato crop, 1885, 42.214 bu- hels. Wool clip, 1885, 132,169 pounds. Dairy 
and other farm products, 1885: milk, 25,617 gallons; butter, 260,220 pounds; 
cheese, 3,765 pounds; eggs, 147,437 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk JF. J. Eisenmann 

Treasurer John Schamber 

Sheriff j David Bellon 

Clerk District Court James C. Boyles 

Probate Judge 'Frank Bern 

Register of Deeds F. J. Eis nniann 

Attorney [G. P. Harben 

Superintendent of Schools SSolon M. Daboll 

Surveyor E. C. Marchant 

Coroner Dr. James Brewster 

Assessor Christian Aisenbrey 

(iHenrj' Heil. (chairman). 
Commissioners < Peter Maag 

• llsaac Stambrook. 



|01ivet 

10'ivet 

! (Hirer 

Olivet 

{Olivet 

[Olivet 

Olivet 

Olivet 

jTripp 

|01ivet 

Menno...,. 

Menno 

ITripp 

! Milltown. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Freeman. 

Mabel 

Menno.... 



Milltown. 
Olivet.... 
Par. ston. 



.jTripp 

VVestford 

.j Wittenberg 



HYDE COUNTY 



Area, 552,960 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Boundaries changed, February 27, 1883, parts from Hand, Sully, and 
Hughes. Organized, April 12, 1884, by the appointment, by the Governor, 
of the following commissioners, viz.: A. E. Van Camp, Lewis E. Witcher, 
John Falde, Jr. 

Hyde county is situated in southern Dakota, on the Missouri river, 
south of the 4th standard parallel. Principal stream, is the Missouri 
river, which forms the southwestern boundary of the county for about 
five miles. The central portion of Hyde county is drained by the head 
branches of Medicine creek, and the southern part by branches of 
Crow creek. A few small streams flow directly into the Missouri river, 
and a few drain, northeast, into Hand county. Chapelle creek drains 
about a township in the southwest. A number of small lakes and ponds 
are distributed over the county. Surface, generally, a rolling prairie, 
rising, in the northeast, to an elevated plateau, sometimes miscalled the 
" Bald mountains." Soil, a deep vegetable loam, rich in the productive 
elements, and with a sub-soil of clay. The Winnebago Indian reserva- 
tion covers the six southern townships. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



39: 



'- Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern railway, (main 
line,) eighteen miles; stations: Bramhall, Highmore, Holabird. 
Vacant public lands, 22,320 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are two hanks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Highmore, at Highmore, S. Drew, president; Frank Drew, cashier. Hyde 
County Bank, at Highmore, A. IF Everhard, president; 0. P. Everhard, 
cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Pioneer, A. H. Bell, editor and publisher, Bramhall; Blade. J. L. How- 
ard, editor and publisher, Bramhall; Hyde County Bulletin, Howard C. 
Shober, editor and publisher. Highmore; Herald", Ely Johnson, editor 
and publisher, Highmore; Advocate. A. B. Vines, publisher, Flolabird; 
Hyde County Star, J. A. Sedgwick, editor and publisher, Sedgwick. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Highmore, near the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 
600; school-building, valued at $4,000; methodist church edifice, valued at 
12,500; court-house and jail, valued at $8,000; artesian well, valued at 
$7,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, $83,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Bramhall, in the east; population, fifty; school-building, etc. Chapelle, 
in the southwest; school-building, church edifice, etc. Holabird, west of 
Highmore; school-building, etc. Sedgwick, in the north; population, 
twenty-five; school-building, valued at §500, etc. 

SCHOOLS. (STATISTICS 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, seventeen; school population, 601; 
number of school-houses in district, thirty- nine; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, twelve; average monthly 'pay of teachers, males, §27.33; 
females, §27.79; value of all school property, §29,v//9.02; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, §14,740 29; cash remaining 
in school treasury June 30, 1886, §1.330.96; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June' 30, 1886, §28,066.66; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, seven per cent; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $9,362.13. 







LIVE STOCK STATTSTCS. 






Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


8GI 

901 
95G 


Ill 
120 
125 


933 62 
1,425 141 

1.91 S 127 


S~0 

400 


$ 39.802 
55.797 
73,701 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Acres Real v o,^h™ Town Lots Personal Prop- ^fLiY^f nf 
Estate. Valuation. valuation, erty valuation. JJinU. 


1885 
1886 

1887 


123,909 $ 357,525 $ 32.351 $ 57.714 $ 487.392 
153,554 449.778 42.032 170,261 717 868 
169,418 450 512 48,505 64.949 637.667 



FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in countv, for vears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in I Bushels in ; Bushels in 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat. 

Barley 

Flax 



1880. 



none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 



18S5. 



1887. 



20 976 

8.499 

23,905 

30 

17 

535 



194.250 

171,(00 

259.000 

1,820 

250 

21.675 

55,000 



396 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 2.157. Lands improved, 1885, 
32,541 acres. Number of farms, 1885. 516. Average size of farms, 1885, 
sixty-three acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.67. County 
indebtedness, 1887, $20,600. Potato crop, 1885, 7,653 bushels. Wool clip, 
1885, 408 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 29,912 gal- 
lons; butter, 18,415 pounds; eggs, 18,433 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFEICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



County Clerk M. G. Sinon Highmore. 

Treasurer Homer James Highmore. 

Sheriff S. R. Meigs Highmore. 

Clerk District < ourt L. Q. Jeffries Highmore. 

Probate Judge O. W. Beebe ,... Highmore. 

Register of Deeds M G. Sinon Highmore. 

Attorney A. N". "\ anCamp jHighmv/re. 

Superintendent of Schools T. E. Price [Highmore. 

Surveyor D. L. C-^dwallader Highmore. 

Coroner H. H. Stoner Highmore. 

Assessor Simon Fritzson Sedgwick.. 

f \. E. VanCamp, (chairman) Highmore. 

| W. F. Pidge Hawley 

Commissioners -| W. H. Triplett Sedgwick.. 

| K. E. Murphy Holubird... 

i L. \V. Harvey S Highmore. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Afton Hawley Sedgwick. 

Bramhall Highmore Stephan... 

Chapelle Holabird j lennis 

Goudyville Ida i 



JACKSON COUNTY. 



Created March 8, 1883. _ 

Jackson is a county within the boundaries of the Great Sioux Indian 
reservation. 

JERAULD COUNTY. 

Area. 345,000. Created, March 9, 18S3, from parts of Buffalo and Aurora. 
Organized. October 1 , 1883, by appointment, by the Governor, of the follow- 
ing commissioners, viz.: Hiram Fisher, Samuel H. Melcher, and A. B. 
Smart. 

Jerauld county is situated in southern Dakota, on the 44° latitude, 
and midway between the Missouri and James rivers. Principal streams, 
are Firesteel and Sand creeks, tributaries of the James river, which drain 
the eastern portion of the county, and two branches of Crow creek, 
which drain the western slope into the Missouri river. There are a num- 
ber of springs and lakes in the county. The largest sheets of water are 
Crow and Shallow lakes. Surface of the eastern part, generally level; of 
the western part, considerably broken by hills and bluffs, but not sufficient- 
ly to interfere with cultivation. The county is divided, near the center, 
north and south, by the eastern slope of the Wessington hills — which ex- 
tend entirely 'hrough it. These hills rise abruptly on the east, and for 
some half a mile back, are broken, rough, and somewhat stony, but are 
well adapted for grazing purposes. After leaving this rough strip, the 
land is a rolling prairie with beautiful valleys, watered by never fail- 
ing springs, and small lakes, Soil, a productive loam, with day sub-soil. 

Miles oi railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
{James river line,) five miles, station: Alpena. 

Vacant public lands, none. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



397 



BANES. 

There are three banks doing business in this county, as follows: D. 
F. Rover, at Alpena. Bank of Wessington Springs, at Wessington Springs, 
C. E. Thayer, president. Jerauld County Bank, at Wessington Springs, 
C. W. McDonald, president. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Jerauld County Journal, D. F. Rover, editor and publisher, Alpena; 
Homesteader, W. R. Pooley, editor, ("row hake; Jerauld County Messen- 
ger, O. P. Hull, editor, Watei bury ; Herald, Blank & Blank, editors and 
publishers, Wessington Springs; true Republican, B. B. Blosser, editor 

and publisher, Wessington Springs. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Wessington Springs, near the center, is the county seat. It has a pop- 
ulation of 300; school-building, valued at $800; church edifices; public 
build mas. valued at $3,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, 
$25,000; personal, $30,000; total, $55,000. 

OTHER IMP iRTANT TOWNS. 

Alpena, in the northeast; population, 250; school-building, valued at 
S2,5()0; methodist church edifice, valued at $2,500. Waterbury, in the 
west; population, 200; school- building; cheese factory, etc. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 18 6.) 

Xumber of organized townships, fifteen; school population, 976; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, fifty-three; number of school-houses built 
in 1886, ten; average monthly pay of teachers, males, 826.35; females,. 
824.09; value of all school property, $29,807.96; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 1886, $10,891.71; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $888.61; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 80, 1886. 827,600.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent. : amount of school warrants outstanding June 30,1886, 
86 ; 21tj.(i3. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTIC-. 



Year. Horses. Ma A e s * es and Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation, 



1885 
1886 

1887 



Year. 



1886 



1,751 
1,927 

2,131 



277 
201 
183 



3,965 

I 388 
5,044 



1,713 
1722 
1,888 



1.372 
1,148 
1243 



S 111.866 

127,245 
150,053 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Acres Beal 
Estate. 



114.736 
134,800 



Valuation. 



3 284,625 
338,875 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



19,069 
21.317 

2n,514 



8 95,747 

84 228 
85,135 



S 511 307 
521,665 
631.592 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in count v, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. . 



Bushels 
3880. 



in Bushels in Bushels in 
1885. 1887. 



Wheat none 85.296 348.000 

Corn none 71.066 640 000 

0ats none 109,193 750 

R ye none 195 7,125 

Buckwheat none 

Bar lev none 1 281 

* lax none 7 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 3,458; Lands improved. 
41,699 acres. Number of farms. 1885, 823 acres. Average size of farms, 
I880, fifty-one acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887. $2.81. 
County indebtedness. 1887, $13,923. Potato crop, 1885, 23,811 bushels. 



393 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Wool clip, 1885, 8,229 pouuds. Dairy and oth?r farm products 1885: milk, 
505 gallons; butter, 63,786 pounds; cheese, 5,540 pounds; eggs, 24,892dozen; 

NAME AND PQSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF CQTTNTY OFFICERS IX 1887 . _ 

Office. Name. P. O. Address- 



County Clerk L. N. Loomis Wessington Springs.. 

Treasurer W. J. Williams Wessingtou Springs. 

Sheriff' J. M. Spears Wessington Springs. 

ulerk District Court .• C. W. McDonald Wessingtou Springs. 

Probate Judge FT. M. Riee Waterbury 

Register of Deeds L. N. Loomip W< ssington Springs , 

Attorney 'i . H. Null Wessington Springs . 

Superintendent of Schools I. S. Binford Lyunaale 

Surveyor '. H. J. Wallace , Wessington Springs. 

Coroner E. L. Turner Wessington Springs 

Assessor J. O. Gray Upena 

) O. A. Knudtson Starkey 

Ocmm ssioners [ L. G. Wilson, (chairman) Parsons 

) iJeffSickler Bates 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IX COUNTY, 1887, 



Alpena ^tarkev Waterbury 

Crow Lake Stock..*. Wessington Spki 

Gordon Sullivan 

Lynndale Templeton '. 



KIDDER COUNTY. 

Area, 737,280 acres. Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Boundaries changed, March 10, 1885, part from Buileigh and part to Stan- 
ton. Organized, December 21, 1880, by the appointment, by the Governor, 
of the following commissioners, viz.: W. F. Steele, John Van Deusen, 
Frank S. Whipple. 

Kidder county is situated in northern Dakota, midway between the 
46th and 48th degrees of latitude, and the second county east of the Mis- 
souri river. There are no streams of any size within its borders, but a 
great number of natural springs, lakes and ponds, furnish an abundant 
supply of water to neaihy every section. Principal lakes, areHorsehead, 
and Long. Surface, gently undulating prairie, broken hy lakes, 
hills, and valleys. Along the line of the Northern Pacific railroad, the 
surface is, generally, level, except in the eastern portion, which is slightly 
hilly. The southeast corner of ihe county is hilly, and broken by ridges 
or low buttes. East of Horsehead lake marks the commencement of the 
famed Mouse river pass, run r ing in a northwesterly direction, to the Mouse 
river valley, with a width varying from five to twelve miles. The north- 
eastern portion of the county is similar in topography to the southeastern. 
Soil, generally, a rich, black loam, reaching, in somelocalities, to a depth 
of six feet. Sub soil, clay. 

Miles of railroad in county : Northern Pacific railway, (main line,) 28.3 
miles; stations: Crystal Springs, Tappen, Dawson, Steele, Geneva. Total 
miles of railroad in county, 28.3 miles. 

Vacant public lands, 256,000 acres. 

BANKS. 

There is one bank doing business in this county, as follows: Dawson 
Banking Co., at Dawson, J. D. Thomson, president; E. F. Heyd, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Ozone, F. S. Corwin, editor and publisher, Steele; Breeze, J. J. Sargent, 
editor and publisher, Dawson. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Steele, southwest of the center, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 700; school-building, valued at $5,000; presbyterian church edifice, 
valued at $3,0n0; court-house, valued at $30,000; w-ater-works system, val- 
ued at $15,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, $150,000; per- 
sonal, $120,000; total, $270,000. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



399 



OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Dawson, east ot Steele; population, 300; school-building, valued at 
$3,000; congregational church edifice, valued at $2,000; Hour- mill, valued 
at $17,500. Tappen, east of Dawson; population 175; school- building, val- 
ued at $800; congregational church edifice, valued at $2,500. 
schools, (statistics 1880.) 

Number of organized townships, six; school population, 228; number of 
school-houses in district, four; number of school-houses built in 1886, 
four; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $45.00; females, $33.50; 
value of all school property, $11,000; expended for school purposes during 
year ending June, 30, 1886, $3,021.56; cash remaining in school treasury, 
June 30, 1886, $1,827.69 ;par amount of school bonds outstanding June 30, 
1886, $6,400; average rate. of interest paid on bonds, eight per cent. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


M As S ses. lld Cattle - Sheep - 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


382 
534 
886 


72 434 871 

1 69 472 830 

132 1,002 | 1,363 


115 
273 
247 


$ 33,974 
52,076 
83,035. t 






VALUATION STATISTICS. 







Year. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop-I^Xn** 
erty valuation. ™%!$™ ° f 



104,263 
105 905 
456,658 



$ 313.701 

384,265 

1,177.225 



$ 114,271 
179,200 
118.788 



$ 57,748 

82,019 

113,224 



S 519,694 

697,560 

1,492,272 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 



Bushels in 

1885. 



Bushels in 
1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Buckwheat. 

Barley 

Flax.." 



none 
none 
18,040 
none 
none 
none 



241,593 

3,100 

188,337 

936 

33,430 



245,663 

3.000 

121,500 



23 000 
2,100 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, eighty-nine; 1885, 1,572. Lands improved, 
1880, 3,365 acres; 1885,20.687 acres. Number of farms, 1880, three; 1885, 
293. Average size of farms, 1880, 1,122 acres; 1885, seventy-one acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.58. County indebtedness, 
1887. $36,323. Potato crop, 1885, 45,753 bushels. Wool clip, 18S5, 7.628 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 2,040 gallons; butter, 
35,180 pounds; eggs, 16,933 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. O. Address. 




County Clerk 

Treasurer 

Sheriff 


E. M. Wilcox 

W. A. Fridlev 

J. D. Smith..' 


Steele 

Steele 

Steele.... 




C'erk District Court 

Probate Judue 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 


C. G. I). VYatkins 

E. N. Parker 

E. M. Wilcox 

J. W. Walker 


Steele 

Steele 

Steele 

Steele i 




Superintendent of Schools 


C. M. Fulton 




Surveyor 


Geo. H. Cook 


Steele 

Steele 

Steele 

Steele 

Dawson 

Steele 




Coroner 


R. H. Dodds 




Assessor 


J.hn F. Simpson 




r 


John Harcourt 




Commissioners J. 


Thos. Neill 

W. R. Hollidny 





40 ) RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Crystal Springs |Hazlebrock Tappen 

Dawson McGuire 

DeVTorris S'ieelr 



KINGSBURY COUNTY. 

Area, 552,960 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Hanson. 
Boundaries changed, February 22, 1879. Organized, December 13, 1879, 
by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, 
viz : Henry J. Burvie, Ben Loker, Herbert R. Palmer. 

Kingsbury is a county of southern Dakota, between the Big Sioux and 
James rivers, and just north ot the second standard parallel. There are 
no streams of any size in the county. Redstone, Iroquois, and Rock 
creeks, are small streams draining the western portion. A prominent 
feature of Kingsbury county, is the large number of lakes of good water 
within its borders — the most noted of which are Lake Preston. Lake 
Thompson. Lake Albert, and Lake White wood, each covering from five 
to fifteen square miles of surface. The water surface of the county prob- 
ably equals forty square miles. Surface, generally level, with some roll- 
ing prairie. The county being on the water-shed constituting the great 
eastern Coteau of Dakota, occupies an elevated position, the land grad- 
ually sloping away, on the east, toward the Big Sioux, and on the west, to- 
ward the Dakota, or James river. Soil, the usual black loam, underlaid 
with a substratum of yellowish clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(Madison-Bristol line,) twenty five miles; stations: Lake Preston, Old- 
ham. Chicago & Northwestern railway, (main line,) thirty-eight 
miles; stations: Arlington, Lake Preston, DeSmet, Manchester, Iro- 
quois; (Hawarden line,) thirteen miles; stations: Iroquois, Esmond. 
Total, fifty one miles. Total miles of railroad in county, seventy-six. 

Vacant public lands, 1,550 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are seven banks doing business in this county, as follows: Central 
Dakota Bank, at Arlington, L. A. Kidder, president; II. L. Whitney, 
cashier. Burt & Bradbury, at Arlington. Bank of Iroquois, at Iroquois, 
Wm. P. Thorp, president; C. F. Zimmermann, cashier. Farmers' and 
Merchants' Bank, at Iroquois. D. M. Fredericks, president; L. L. Los- 
tutter, cashier Merchants' Exchange Bank, at Lake Preston, A. S. Shep- 
herd, president; G. W. Fifield, cashier. First National Bank, at DeSmet, 
J. H. Carroll, president; P. Lawrence, cashier. Kingsbury County Bank, 
at DeSmet, A. W. Newman, president; T. H. Ruth, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Sun, H. A. Whiting, editor and publisher, Arlington; Kingsbury County 
News, Hopp & McDonald, editors and publishers, DeSmet; Leader, C. P.< 
Sherwood, editor and publisher DeSmet; Land and Labor Spy, Spy Pub- 
lishing Co., edi'ors and publishers, DeSmet; The Herald, B. M. Price, 
editor and publisher, Iroquois; Times, L. J. Bates, editor and publisher, 
Lake Preston; The Times, L. L. Bancroft, editor and publisher, Man- 
chester; Oldham Rustler, Oldham. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

DeSmet, near the center, is the county seat. It has a'populalion of 800; 
school-building, valued at $5,01 0; methodist, catholic, congregational, and 
baptist church edifices, valued at $3,000; flour-mill, valued at $8,000; 
cheese-factory, valued at §2,000. 

( )T II E R I .M P< > I IT A XT T ( ) WX S . 

Arlington, on the eastern boundary; population, 400; school-building, 
valued at 83,000; methodist church edifice, valued at $2,500; Hour-mill 
and creamery, together, valued at $15,000. Assessed valuation city prop- 
erty, 1S86, real and personal, $95,000. Esmond in the southwest; popula- 
tion, forty; school-building, valued at $600; methodist and congregational 



RESOURCES OP DAKOTA. 



401 



church edifices, valued at $5,000. Iioquois, on the webtern boundary; 
population, 500; school-building, valued at $1,500; opera house; methodist 
and congregational church edifices, valued at $4,000. Assessed valuation 
city property, 1836, real and personal, $87,000. Lake Henry, in the center; 
population, 100; school-building, valued at $500; congregational church 
edifice, valued at $2,800. Lake Preston, between DeSmetand Arlington; 
population. 300; school-building, valued at $2,000; church edifice, valued at 
$2,5i)0. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $72,017. 
.Manchester, between DeSnaet and Iroquois; population, 100; school- 
building, valued at $1,000; presbyterian church edifice, valued at $1,500; 
cheese factory. Assessed valuation town property, 188(5, real and personal, 
$10,000. 

schools, (statistics 1880.) 
Number of organized townships, fourteen; school population, 1,817 
number of school- houses in district, eighty- eight; number of school 
houses built in 1886, six; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $31.39 
females, $20.78; value of all school property, $26 821,03; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, 1880, $32,881.69; cash remain- 
ing in school treasury June 30, 1886, $5,308.23; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30, 1S80, $56,000; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding; June 30,1886, 
$10,308.81. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and; 
A«ses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 


43 
3.320 
4,219 

4,827 


4 
137 
198 

177 


112 

6,630 
8,191 
9.109 


947 

1,252 
1,386 


9 
2,421 
2,322 
1,682 




1885 
1886 

1887 


$ 273,221 
318,143 
372.862 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



PpnniifllPrnn Total » ssessed 



1880 
1885 
1886 

1887 



193,587 
222,(i26 
266.253 



15 961 
608.909 
683.115 

925,233 



119,508 
156,601 
177.512 



$ 37,273- 
226,928 
291,938 



;c, { ; 



9 53, 
1,228. 
1,449.797 
1,872,394 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in Bushels in ! Bushels in 

1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat 180 672.791 1678,720 

Corn 160 68,698 293 250 

Oats 985 428,812 1,054 375 

Rye none 1.969 5,607 

Buckwheat none 3.116 

Barley none 80 629 232 400 

Flax non e 1 07,750 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of countv, 1880, 1,102; 1885,7,345 L nds improved, 1880, 
10, acres; 1885, 130,068 acres. Number of farms, 18S0, twelve; 188-5, 1,700. 
Average size of farms, 1880, sixteen acres; 1 SS"), seventy-six acres. Aver- 
age assessed valuation per acre. 1887, $3.48. County indebtedness, 1887, 
$8,000. Potato crop, 1885, 90,042 bushels. Wool clip'. 1885, 5,412 pounds. 
Daiiy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 2,7^5 gallons; butter, 251,722 
pounds; cheese. 1,550 pounds; eggs, 469,376 dozen. 



402 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 18S7. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



Auditor 


R. N. Buun 

Howard Hall 


DeSmet 


Sheriff 

Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 


L. S. Fieldby 

C. L. Dawlev 

J. E. Kised./rph 

J. i*. Gipson 

John A. Owen 


Pelmet 

DeSmet 

DeSmet 

DeSmet 


DeSmet 


Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 


MissE. H. Stead 

B. S. Wheeler 

J. N Willett 


DeSmet 

[Iroquois 

ILake Preston 


| 


Ed. Beiike 

Ben Loken 

Terr j- Lawton. (chairman) 

A. M. Aspaiiwall 

E. H. rouse 


1 Arlington 


Commissioners - 

1 

I 


Iroquois 

Manchester 

i DeSmet 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1881 



Arlington Esmond Neptune. 

Bartram Iroquois Oldham. 

Clyde Lake Henry Spring 1 ake. 

DeSmet Lake Pr» stou. 

Erwin Manchester.. 



LAKE COUNTY 



Area, 368,640 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Brookings, 
Hanson, and Minnehaha. Boundaries changed, February 22, 1879; 
changed again, in 1883, part to Miner. Organized, September 1, 1873, by 
the appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: 
John T. Hare, Herman X. Luce, Joseph I) u puis. 

Lake is a county of southern Dakota, immediately south of the 2nd stand- 
ard parallel, and in the second tier of counties west of the Minnesota state 
line. Principal streams are Battle creek, which drains the northeastern 
portions of the county, >-kunk creek, which drains the southeastern por- 
tion, and the east fork of the Vermillion river, which drains the western 
portion. The county received its name from the large number oi small 
lakes within its boundaries. The largest of these is Lake Madison, a 
beautiful sheet of water, some four miles in length. Other principal 
bodies of water are Brant lake. Lake Herman, and Lake Milwaukee. 
Groves of native timber fringe the margins of these lakes. Surface, a 
gently, undulating prairie, broken by river and creek valleys, and the 
basins of the numerous lakes. Soil, a dark colored, sandy loam, very pro- 
ductive. Sub-soil, clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(mainline,) twenty-eight miles; stations: Wentworth, Madison, Winfred; 
(Bristol-Madison linej fifteen miles; stations: Madison, Komona. Total 
miles of railroad in county, forty-three. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are five banks doing business in this county, as follows: Citizens' 
National Bank, at Madison, W. F. Smith, president; J. A. Trow, cashier. 
First Xational Bank, at Madison, F. D. Fitts, president; L. H. Keene, 
cashier. Madison Xational Bank, at Madison. E. H. Jacobs, president; 
S. W. Jacobs, cashier. Bank of Wentwort. at "Went worth, G. W. Wright, 
cashier. Dakota Loaning Association, at Winfred, E. L. Bradbury, pres- 
ident; G. L. Wright, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Sentinel, F. L. Mease, publisher, Madison; Lake County Leader. J. F. 
Stahl, editor, Madison; Dakota Letter, C. F. Shaffer, editor, Wentworth; 
Public Ledger, J. E. Patten, publisher, Winfred. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



403 



COUNTY SEAT. 

Madison, in the center, is the county seat. It lias a population of 1,200; 
school-buildings, valued at $5,1*00; methodist, presbytenan, two baptist, 
catholic, and adventist church edifices, valued at $13,500; court-house, and 
jail, city, hall, engine house together, valued at $18,000; flour-mill, valued 
at $15,000; creamery, valued ai $3,000; flax-mill; opera house. Assessed 
valuation city property, 1886. real, $262 895; personal, $235,993; total, $498,- 
8cS8. The state normal school is located at Madison. For a description 
of the institution, see page 204, this publication. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Wentworth, east of Madison; population, 250; school-building, valued at 
$3,600; German lutheran, episcopal, and presbyterian church edifices, 
valued $2,000; flax-mill, valued at $8,000; flour-mill, valued at $8,000. 
Winfred, on the western boundary; school-building, valued at $1,000; epis- 
copal church edifice, valued at $1,500; grain ware-houses, etc. Assessed 
valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $110,000. 
" schools, (statistics 1886.J 

Number of organized townships, thirteen; s-hool population, 1,010; 
number of school-houses in district, sixty-five; number of school-houses 
built in 1880, three; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $35.60; fa- 
males, $37.30; value of all school property, $39,517.00; expended for school 
purposes during year ending June 30, 1880, 824,451.23; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, 84,524.18; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1880, $72,359.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$1,769.72. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


Mules aud 
As^es. 


Cattle. 


!' Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 

1 




1880 


860 
2,355 
2,922 
3,343 


61 
108 
124 
134 


2,685 
5,833 
7,378 
8 795 


199 
2 711 

3,275 
3,724 


813 

2,808 
2 523 
1,933 


* 




1885 
1886 
1887 . 


$ 173,628 
381.452 
406,665 





VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1880 
1885 
1886 

1887 



Acres Real 
Estate 



Valuation. 



Town Lots !PersoimlProp-; T ^ ia ^ 8 5 sse d f 
valuation, [erty valuation. | cJmuy 



178,116 
202,098 
216,745 



$ 57,169 

340,511 

1,032,709 

1,228.373 



$ 96,510 
278,744 
290,082 



$ 128,816 
198,854 
403,680 
405,479 



$ 186,015 

809,503 

2,099 585 

2 330.599 



1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat. 

Barley 

Flax 



Bushels in 
1880. 



60,467 

83 216 

94,546 

1,808 



Bushels in 

1885. 



Bushels in 
1887. 



10,482 
none 



245.292 

28,360 

234,093 

1770 

326 

46,194 



549 848 

317,808 

758,406 

4,000 

72 

59,825 

179,399 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of countv, 1880, 2,657; 1885, 5,432. Lands improved, 1880, 
17,500 acres; 1885,79,520 acres. Number of farms, 18S0, 489; 1885, 1,025. 
Average size, of farms, 1880, thirty-six acies; 1885, seventy-eight acres. 



404 RESOUECES OF DAKOTA. 

Average assessed valuation per acre. 1887, $5.67. Countv indebtedness, 
1887, $31,436. Potato crop, 1885, 26.734 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 21,968 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 6,050 gallons; but- 
ter, 189,029 pounds; cheese, 5,485 pounds; eggs, 10,652 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFlCE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 18S7. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



Auditor 


A. H. Palmer 

Wm. Tobin 

Win. Lee 

H. O. Curtis 

N II Downs. 








Sheriff 




Clerk District Court 








Register oi' Deeds 


V. R. Wadden 

Wm. McGrath 


Madison 


Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 


K. H. Evenson 

John Greyer 

E. L. Clark 

David Theophilus 

John Fleming 

H. P. Smith 

J. B. Sommars 




Madison 


Coroner 


Madison, 


Assessor 


Madison 






) 











LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN 


COUNTY, . 


L887. 




Bad us 

Battle Creek 


Franklin 




Towles 




Madison 

Orland 








Winfred ..., 








Egge 

















LA MOURE COUNTY. 



Area, 737,280 acres. Created, January 4, 1873, from parts of Buffalo and 
Pembina. Boundaries changed, February 2,4, 1881, part to Dickey; 
changed again, March 9, 1883. Organized January 20. 1881, by the ap- 
pointment, bv the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: John 
R.Crum. Homer T. Elliott, Chas H. Porter. 

La Moure is a county of the upper James river valley, south 
of the 9th standard parallel. Principal stream, the -lames river, 
which flows through the countyin a general southeasterly direction, with 
a very tortuous course. Bone Hill and Cottonwood creeks, and the Maple 
river, thorougly drain the western end of the county. Bear creek waters 
'the eastern tier of townships. A great number of lakes and ponds, and 
numerous springs are distributed about the county. Scattering bodies of 
timber are found along the banks of the James. This river, at Grand 
Rapids, furnishes a good water-power. Surface, in the west, rough and 
hilly elevations of the Coteau region, sloping toward the James river in a 
vast, undulating prairie; of the country adjacent to the -lames river, a fine, 
level, valley, varying from three-fourths of a mile to three miles in width, 
and bordered by a double line ot bluffs, which rise to a height of from 
fifty to seventy-five feet above the plain. Soil, generally, the deep, rich, 
black loam, of this noted valley. Sub-soil, clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific railway. (James River Val- 
ley branch,) 29. Smiles; stations: Adrian, Dickey. Grand Rapids, La Moure, 
Valley Junction; (Fargo & Southwestern branch,) 33.8 miles; stations: 
Verona, Valley Junction. La Moure, Medbery. Edgeley. Total, 03. L miles. 
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, (Janus River Vallev line,) six 
miles; station: Edgeley. Total miles ot railroad in county, GO. 1. 

Vacant public lands, 40,800 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are four banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Edgeley, at Edgeley, E. A. Mear.s, president; G. W. Brown, cashier. 
Farmers' Bank, at Grand Rapids. Bank of La Moure, at La Moure. 
Lloyds, bankers, at La Moure. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



405 



Grand Rapids; Pro- 
La Moure; Edgeley 



It has a population 



NEWSPAPERS. 

Journal Joe M. Chappie, editor and proprietor 
eress and Chronicle, Potter & Potter, publishers, 
Mail, Rowe & Gordon, publishers, Edgeley. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

La Moure, on the James river, is the county seat. 
of 650; school-building, valued at $3,(»00; presbyterian church ediface, val- 
ued at $3,000; city hall, valued at $4,5()0; tiour-mi 1, valued at $10 000. As- 
sessed valuation city property, 1886, real, $150,770; personal, $54,39o, total, 
$205,165. 

OTHEE IMPORTANT TOWN'S. 

Dickev northwest of La Moure; school-building, grain- ware houses, etc 
Edgeley^ west of La Moure; population, 150; new and growing town with 
flour ml ll/churches, and schoolsin prospect. ( Irand Rapids on the James 
river between La Moure and Dickey; population, 800; school-build mg : 
valued at k, 000; church edifices, valued at $2,500. Assessed valuation 
town property, 1886, real and personal, %/o,000. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, fourteen; school population 39/ ; num- 
ber of school-hmtses in district, eighteen; number of school- ho uses mlt 
in 1886, two; average monthly pay of teachers, males, ^oO.bo iemales, 
*oi ««. UlnP of all school oronerty, $22,768.60; expendeu lor school pur- 
fc-ses' during the yearenSgJuie 30, 1886 $10,739.03; cash remaining 
Fn sch'ooUrefsury, June 30, 1886, $8,204.10; par amount ot school bonds 
outstanding, .We 30, 1880, $12 839; average .rate of interest P^n bonds, 
nine per Sent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June ,><». L88b. 
11,880-. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1885 
3886 

1887 



Year. 



Horses. 



785 
1,124 
1.404 



Mules and 
Asses. 



207 

242 
235 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1,120 
1.807 
2,298 



115 

113 
144 



680 
765 
353 



$ 61,950 
93.160 
115.625 



V A LU ATI ON STATISTICS . 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



354,160 
382.325 

482 290 



Valuation. 



$1,175,220 
1,339,985 
1,491,576 



Town Lots 
valuation 



$ 146.733 
165.326 
188.533 



" ,, Total assessed 

Personal Prop-, valuation of 
erty valuation. C0Qntv . 



$ 64.999 
92,914 

141.507 



1 ! 18.902 
1,691.385 

1,910.241 



Table showim 
1885, and 1887. 



FARM STATISTICS. 

product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 



Bushels in Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 



Bushels in 

1887. 



_. . none M76 559,000 

Wheat 2706 

£°™ ;;; none 207,412 368 

g**? none lbO 

Bucl-vncat. «JJ t * „.& 

J?^ V nra ■ ™ 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. _ . ,... 

Population of count v. 1880, twenty; 1885, 2,072. Lands improved, 1885, 
45,359 acres. Number of farms, 1885 772. Average size_of ^farms 1880 
fifty-nine acres. Average assessed valuation per acre 1887, §>3.45 ^ountj 
indebtedness, 1887, $9,931. Potato crop, 188o, 18,516 bus lie Is. Wo ol clip 
1885, 145 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 188D: butter, _i,J«o 
pounds ; cheese , 1 40 poun d s ; eggs , 8 , 845 d o z en. 



406 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. . Name. P. O. Address. 






County Clerk L. C. Harris LaMoure 

Treasurer W. E. Brewer LaMoure .... 

Sheriff C. W. Oakley Edgeley 

Clerk District Court E. M. Whitman LaMoure 

Probate Judge J. W. Johnston LaMoure 

Register of Deeds L. C. Harris LaMoure 

Attorney J. M. Bartholomew LaMoure 

Superintendent of Schools J. M. i »eviue LaMouie 

Surveyor E. O. Ellison LaMoure 

Coroner Dr W. T. Good LaMoure 

Assessor G. Buetow LaMoure 

f J F Ellis LaMoure 

| S. F. Campbell Edgeley 

Commissioners ■{ Geo. Newell Dickey 

| A. E. Ranev Adrian 

L J. O. Lyon.' Ft. Ransom. 

LIST OF FOSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Adrian Griswold Medbery 

Dickey Lake view Russell'.. 

Edgeley Litchville Verona .. 

Grand Rapids La Moure 



LAWRENCE COUNTY. 

Area, 1,280,000 a<;rcs. Created, January 1 1, 1875, from original territory 
Boundaries changed February 10, 1877; changed again, February 19, 1881 ; 
changed again, March 5. 1881; changed again m 1883. part to Butte, and 
changed again, March 10, 1887. Organized, March 5. 1877, by the appoint- 
ment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Fred T. 
Evans, John Wolzmuth, and A. W. Lavender. 

Lawrence is a county of the Black Hills, in the southwestern part of Da- 
ko'a, and the fourth county north of the Nebraska boundary. Principal 
streams, are the Belle Fourchc, or the north fork of the Cheyenne, and 
the Cheyenne rivers, on the northern and eastern boundaries of the 
county. The other smaller streams of Lawrence county, are Redwater, 
Spearfish, Whitewood, Bear Butte, Warrens, Inyankara, and Elk 
creeks. Surface, about one-third of the county lying in the south- 
west part, hilly and mountainous, and mostly covered with a 
good growth of pine timber; the remaining two-thirds, stretching 
from the foot hills, to the two branches of the Cheyenne river, con- 
stitutes a portion of the broad spreading plains which sweep around 
the hills on the north, south, and east. The average height of the 
hilly region of the county, may be estimated at 6.000 feet above sea level, 
while the open country varies from 2,000 to 3,500 feet, the lowest points 
beingalong the Cheyenne river. The hilly portion, especially within a rad- 
ius of half a dozen miles around Deadwood, is exceedingly rough and 
broken, and the hills descend very abruptly toward the plains on the 
north and east, — the streams having a descent of from 150 to 200 feet per 
mile until they reach the, open plains. Toward the southern part of the 
county there is a more level region, around the headwaters of the streams. 
The valleys of the Spearfish, Redwater, and other streams, and Pleasant 
valley, and the Centennial prairie — are fertile, agricultural regions, occu- 
pied by farmers and ranchers. Gold, silver, tin, copper, iron, mica, salt, 
gypsum, asbestos, and many other valuable deposits — are mined and 
worked in Lawrence county, and other sections of the Black Hills. Some 
of the best paying mines in the United States are situated in this county. 
For a more extended description of the Black Hills— see a descriptive ar- 
ticle elsewhere in this book. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern, railway, (Fre- 
mont, Elkhorn & Missouri Vallev line,) twenty-two miles; stations: 
Black Hawk, Postville, Sturgis, Whitewood. Black Hills & Ft: Pierre 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 407 

railroad, (narrow guage,) fifteen miles; stations: Lead City, Central City, 
Broughton, Woodville, Brownsville. Total miles of railroad in count}', 
thirty- seven. 

Vacant public lands, 765,471 acres. 460,000 acres unsurveyed. 

BANKS. 

There are ten banks doing business in the county, as follows: Iron 
Hill Bank, at Carbonate, D. A. McPherson, president"; Will Ickes, cashier. 
Bank of Central City, at Central City. Central City Bank, at Central City, 
Wm. R. Stebbins, president; Fred M. Clary, cashier. Dead-wood National 
Bank, at Deadwood, Geo. C. Hickok, president; J. L. Maxwell, Jr., cash- 
ier. First National Bank, at Deadwood, O. J. Salisbury, president; D. A. 
McPherson, cashier. Merchants' National Bank, at Deadwood, W. It. 
Stebbins, president; Wm. Selbie, cashier. Bank of Galena, at Galena, 
Wm. E. Adams, president; Geo. C. Hickok, cashier. Lead City Bank, at 
Lead City, D. A. McPherson, president; Alex. Ross, cashier. Bank of 
Spearfish, at Spearfish, L. W. Valentine, president; J. F. Summers, cash- 
ier. First National Bank, at Sturgis City, D. A. McPherson, president; 
J. J. Davenport, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Black Hills Pioneer, R. D. Kelly, managing editor, Deadwood; Daily 
Black Hills Times, Porter Warner, proprietor, Deadwood; Black Hills 
Herald, W. S. Elder, proprietor, Deadwood; Daily Tribune, T. D. Ed- 
wards, publisher, Lead City; Register, Henry & Grant, editors and pub- 
lishers, Spearfish; Record. C. C. Moody, editor and publisher, Sturgis; 
Advertiser, I. R. Crow, editor, sturgis; Black Hills Teacher, Fayette L. 
Cook, editor, Spearfish; Sentinel, Whitewood. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Deadwood, in the west, is the county seat. It has a population of 4,500; 
two school-buildings, valued at $20,000; methodist, catholic, episcopal, and 
congregational church edifices, valued at $21,000; court-house and jail, 
city hall, fire department houses, together, valued at $50,000; water-works 
system, valued at $50,000; electric light plant, valued at $10,000; two bot- 
tling works, brewery, foundry, flour-mill, and other manufactories, valued 
at $50,000; opera house; telephone system. Assessed valuation city prop- 
erty, 1886, real and personal, $1,074,870. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Bear Gulch; southwest of Deadwood; population, 200; school-building, 
valued at $500; church edifice, valued at $1,200; tin mines; quartz-mill; 
four steam hoists; tin smelter; concentrator; two saw-mills; etc. Assessed 
valuation town property, 1880, real and personal, $575, 000. Carbonate, 
northwest of Deadwood; population, 35'); school-building, valued at $1,000; 
sixty-ton smelter; concentrator; thirteen steam hoisting works; mines; 
mills, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, 
$167,000. Central City, west of Deadwood; population, 800; school-build- 
ing; three church edifices; public buildings; water- works; extensive min- 
ing, milling, and ore reducing works. Crook City, northeast of Dead- 
wood; population, 150; school-building, valued at $1,500; church-building, 
valued at $ 1 ,000. Galena, west of the center; school-building, valued at 
$500; catholic and congregational church edifices, valued at $2,000; two smel- 
ters, valued at $40,000; silver-mill, valued at $50,000; two gold-mills, valued 
at $30,000; numerous mining plants. Assessed valuation town property, 
1886, real and personal, $162,000. Lead City, in the west; population, 2,500; 
school-building, valued at $4,000; church edifices, valued at $7,000; public 
buildings, valued at $2,500; telephone; Homestake gold mine, one of the 
largest plants of the kind in the United states, employing about 1,500 
men. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, $1,300,000. 
Spearfish, in the northwest; population, 800; school-buildings, valued at 
$5,000; congregational church edifice, valued at $5,200; waterworks system, 
valued at $20,000; electric light plant contracted for; flour-mill, valued at 
$25,000; sash, door and blind factory, valued at $10,-00; plaster of Paris 
works, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal. 
$260,000. The Territorial normal school is located at Spearfish. For a 
description of the institution, see page 208, this publication. Sturgis, 



408 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



east of Dead wood; population, 1,200; school-buildings, valued at 82,000; 
presbyterjan, methodist, and catholic church edifices, valued at $9,000; 
lumber mills; planing mills; stone quarries; brick yards, etc Assessed 
valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, $230,000i Terraville, 
west of Dead wood; school-building, valued at $1,000; three quartz- mills, 
valued at $150,000; and numerous other mining plants. 

SCHOOLS, (STATISTICS 1880.) 

Number of organized districts, thirty-five; school population, 2,280; 
number of school-houses in district, forty-three; number of school- houses 
built in 1886, ten; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $78.76; females, 
$54.15; value of all school property, $70,850.00.; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 1886, $56,085.02; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $27,510.00; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 80, 1886, $39,640.00; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, eight percent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $100.00. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



1,152 
3,425 
5,083 
6,114 



292 
299 
351 
430 



4.439 
11.645 
19,073 
16,034 



1.306 
13,860 
16 960 

9,803 



717 
896 
759 
616 



$ 447,324 
627,367 
587,710 



V ALU ATIOX STATISTICS. 



Tear. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



1880 

lss5 
1886 
1887 



78.490 
119.297 
141 996 



$ 738 969 
289,365 
495.467 
733 535 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



2,444.679 

953.226 

1,510,020 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



$1,454,300 

092,520 

2.609 934 

1.348 722 



Tot Hi 

valuation 

county. 

$ 2.193,269 
3,873,894 
4,685,994 
4,179,987 



18S0, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 



of 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880 
1885, and 1887. 



Wheat 

Com 

Oats 

Rye 

Bucfc wheat. 

Barlev 

Flax.; 







Bushels in 

1880. 


Bushels in 

1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 






18,000 

12,848 

120,968 

387 

442 

9.811 

none 


37,975 

27,381 

145,694 

984 

80 

9,405 


216.000 






237 500 






922.500 






16,100 






5 000 






201.250 






37^ 












MISCELLANEOUS 


STATISTICS. 







Population of countv, 1880, 13,248; 1885, 10.320. Lands improved. 1880, 
20.549 acres; 1885, 94,850 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 518; 1885, 732. 
Average size of farms. 1880. fortv acres; 1885, 130 acres. Average assessed 
valuation per acre, 1887, $5.16. Potato crop. 1885, 85 040 bushels. Wool 
clip. 1885, 157,517 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk; 
50,600 gallons; butter, 126,429 pounds; cheese, 8,600 pounds; eggs, 113 500 
dozen. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 409 

NAME AND POSTOFPICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. - Name. P. 0. Address. 



County Clerk John Baker Deadvvood... 

Treasurer J. <'. Shur'ts Deadvvood... 

Sheriff A. J. Knight Deadvvood .. 

clerk District Court W. H. Janes...: Deadvvood... 

Probate Judge L. Gordon Deadwood. . 

Register of Deeds John Faker Deadwood .. 

Attorney W. L. McLaughlin Deadvvood .. 

Superintendent ol Schools W. W. Giddings Deadvvood... 

Surveyor Geo. S. Hopkins Deadvvood... 

Coroner W. H. Wright Crook < ity... 

Assessor T. J. Sparks L'-ad City.... 

( D. A. McPherson Deadwood... 

Commissioners ' \ F M. Allen ;. Sturgis 

( S. B. Crist Central City. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 


Bear Gulch 


Crook City 

Deadwood 


Postville 


Bend 


Saint Onge 

Smithville 

Spearfish 


Big Bottom 

Black Hawk 


Fort Meade 

Galena 

Grashull 

Laflm 

Lead City 

Perry 


Carbonate 


Terraville 


Central City 


Volunteer 



LINCOLN COUNTY. 



Area, 350,000 acres. Created April 5, 1862. Boundaries changed, 
December 30, 1867; changed again, January 13, 1871. part to Turner. Or- 
ganized, December 30, 1867; Augustus J. Linderman, H. K Hyde, and 
Benj. Hill, appointed commissioners, and Canton designated as the 
county seat, by act of Legislature. 

Lincoln, a county of southeastern Dakota, is bounded on the east by the 
Iowa state line, and the second county north of the Nebraska boundary. 
Principal stream, is the Big Sioux river, which washes its entire eastern 
boundary, flowing through a tortuous course. This stream furnishes good 
water-power at several points within the county. The Beaver, and two 
or three smaller streams, drain the central and northern portion, into the 
Big Sioux river. Saddle creek is a tributary of the Vermillion, from 
the east, through the second tier of townships. A few small lakes 
and ponds are distributed over the county, one of which, Silver lake, in 
the south, is a beautiful sheet of water, covering about 200 acres. Groves 
of native timber, such as box-elder, willow, and a few other varieties, 
grow 7 along the ravines which cut through the bluffs, and on the margin of 
the river. Surface, generally, undulating or high-rolling prairie. A bold 
line of bluffs borders the Big Sioux river through the county, sometimes 
near the river, and at others leaving a considerable width of bottomlands. 
The valley of the Sioux is an extremely fertile one. Soil, a deep, sandy 
loam, with a compact, clay sub-soil— not hard-pan. 

Miles oi railroad in county: Chicago. Milwaukee &St. Paul railway, (main 
line.) twenty-one miles; stations: Lennox, Worthing, Canton; (Sioux City 
& Egan branch,) twenty-six miles; stations: Harrisburgh, Canton, Fair- 
view, Eden. Total,- forty-seven miles. Chicago & Northwestern railway, 
(Hawarden line,) eight miles. Burlington. Cedar Rapids & Northern rail- 
way, (mainline,) six miles; station: Springdaie. Total miles of railroad 
in county, sixty-one. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANK'S. 

There are six banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Canton at Canton, C. B. Kennedy, president; J. I). Cloud, cashier. Da- 
kota Loan and Trust Co., at Canton, J. S. Myres, president; C. E. Judd, 
cashier. First National Bank, at Canton, F. A. Gale, president; J. H. 
Gale, cashier, Lincoln County Bank, at Canton, A. K. Brown, cashier. 



410 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



Bank of Eden, at Eden, 
dent. 



Exchange Bank, at Lennox, B. C. Jacobs, presi- 



NEWSPAPERS. 

The Advocate, Carter Bros., editors and publishers, Canton; The Sioux 
Valley News, George W. Nash, editor. Canton; Echo, E. G. Worden, edi- 
tor and publisher, Eden; The Independent, P. F. Haas, editor, Lennox. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Canton, on the Big Sioux river, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 2,000; school-building, valued at $15,000; Augustan % college, with build- 
ings, valued at $15,000, (see page 222, this publication;) court-house, val- 
ued at $3,500; episcopal, methodist, presbyterian, congregational, and 
twolutheran church edifices, valued at $9,000; creamery, valued at $3,000; 
flax-mill, valued at $2,000; flour-mill, valued at $2,500; artesian well and 
electric light plant projected. Assessed valuation city property, 188G, 
real, $450,000; personal, $200,000; total, $650,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Eden, in the southeast; population, 400; school-building, valued at $500; 
church edifices, grain elevators, etc. Lennox, in the west; population, 
400; school-building, valued at $3,000; methodist, catholic, and lutheran 
church edifices, valued at $6,000; city hall, valued at $1,200; creamery, 
valued at $2,000. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and per- 
sonal, $50,000. Worthing, between Canton and Lennox; population, 
seventy-five; school-building, valued at $800; catholic church edifice, val- 
ued at $2,000. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, seventy-seven; school population, 2,547; 
number of school-houses in district, seventy-five; number of school- 
houses built in 1886, three; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $32.42; 
females, $28.47; value of all school property, $58,763.35; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $30,277.47; cash remain- 
ing in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $6,066.60; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30, 1886, $28,827.68; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, nine per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $5,598.36. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


M " d ; Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 

! 


1880 


3,165 

3,794 
4,231 
4,687 


110 9,058 

111 11,694 
122 | 14,391 
118 16,765 


1,039 
5,249 
4,613 
4,145 


8,681 

10,395 

10,733 

| 9 249 


1 * 
* 


1885 
. 1886 ' 
1887 


S 190,792 

" 209.070 
408 7o0 






VALUATION STATISTICS. 







Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Yaluation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



'Personal Pron Tutal assessed 
ie P rt7vafna P tiorLl ^*£» <>f 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



298,820 
311,421 
305,438 



J 641.207 

894.824 

1.157,498 

1,970,290 



120 388 
154,391 
239.301 



9 258,080 
118.262 
117,594 
215.725 



$ 899.287 
1,324,266 

1,638,5.53 
2.S34.016 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1S87. 



Bushels in 

1880. 



Bushels in 

1885. 



Bushels in 

1887. 



Wheat 24,547 

Coin ~ 368,241 

Oats I 155.112 

Rye 3,743 

Buckwheat 244 

Barley 13,397 

Flax i none 



84,962 
561,583 
513.561 

10,871 
1,489 

45,271 



259,875 
996,629 
698,250 

19,826 
1,750 

58.850 
166.188 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 411 

MISCELL WKOCS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1870, 712; 1880, 5,896; 1885, 7,598. Lands im- 
proved, 1880, 76,146 acres; 1885, 93,536 acres. Average size of farms, L880, 
fifty acres; L885, eighty -five acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 
1887, $6 45. No county indebtedness. Potato crop, 1885, 85,640 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 22,705 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
milk, 213,037 gallons; butter, 370,490 pounds; cheese, 3,026 pounds; eggs, 
141,072 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTO FFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



Auditor H. N Cooper Canton.. 

Tien surer 'Ecl^ar Dean Canton.. 

Sheriff H. B. Wright Canton. 

Clerk District Court 'J. W. Carter Canton.. 

Probate Judge ' p. H. Hawn Canton.. 

Register of Deeds [N. M. Jacobin canton.. 

Attorney A. R. Brown Canton.. 

Superintendent of Schools C. B. Isham canton.. 

Surveyor A, C. Huetson Canton.. 

( oroner A. G. Noid Canton.. 

Fred Gerber Worthin 

Commissioners •{ Ole Hokenstad On n ton., 

J. A. Fowles Eden 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Antioeh Ha ram Nurey 

Brooklyn Lennox Saddle Cree 

Canton ■ Linden Selina 

Eden Long Creek Springdale. 

Fairvievv Maple Grove I Worthing... 



LOGAN COUNTY. 



Area, 645,120 acres. Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Boundaries changed, March 9, 1883, part to Mcintosh. Organized, April 
17, 1884, by the appointment, !>y the Governor, of the following commis- 
sioners, viz.: Geo. Lightfoot, J. A. Wise, Edniond R. Weed. 

Logan county is situated in central Dakota, in the second tier of coun- 
ties north of the 46th degree of latitude, and the second east of the Mis- 
souri river. It has no large streams within its borders. Beaver creek j 
and several tributaries of the Missouri, take their rise in, and cross, the 
western townships. A great number of lakes and ponds are scattered 
over the surface oi the county, the largest of which are Beaver and lilue 
lakes, and Lake Emily. The Alkali Flats, a sheet of water just west of 
Napoleon, covers au area of several square miles. Surface, moderately 
undulating, except where thrown up into, and broken by the Coteau 
formations, which, in the south part of the county, begin to retire into 
the general level of the prairie. Soil, of the agricultural hinds of the 
county, occupying a large proportion of its surface, is, in general, the 
same as in other sections of the Missouri plateau. 

Vacant public lands, 202,240 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Homestead, G. A. Bryant, publisher, Napoleon. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Napoleon, northwest of the center, is the county seat. It has a popula- 
tion of fifty; school-building, valued at $1,5()Q; church organizations, etc. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. [ Houses. 

- 


M Ass S es and Caltle - Shee P- Swine - 


Yal nation. 


1886 43 

1887 46 


i 28 G 12 $ 4.3. r 5 
4 .77 8 12 6.218 






41: 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Yea _ Acres Real : Valriation Town Lots Personal Prop- T0t ^ a 1 llia a ^ se u sse o d f 

lear> Estate. Valuation. valuation, erty valuation. comftv! 



1886 25,794 j $ 117 594 5.128 $4,220 $131,297 
1887 300.829 j_ _ 851,012 19,927 Jvl37 . 882,674 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for rears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 

Bushels in Bushels in Bushels in 

1880. 1885. 1887. 

Wheat none none 6,776 

Oats none none 10,140 

Buckwheat none none 32 

Barley none none 360 

Flax j none none 110 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 336. Lands improved, 1885, 
4,172 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 155. Average size of farms, 1885, 
twentv-nine acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.82. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $7,297. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS, IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk Julius H. Hoof , Napoleon. 

Treasurer Chas. J. Hoof Napoleon. 

Sheriff John G. Kroeber .Napoleon. 

Pro hate Judge Israel Freeze Napoleon. 

Register of Deeds Julius H. Hoof. x^apoleon. 

Superintendent of Schools John Orner Napoleon. 

Coroner John B. Spangler Napoleon. 

Assessor Kmmett J. Crouch Napoleon. 

f Wm, H. Spangler, (chairman) 

Commissioners < lEd. R. Weed 

I John M. White I 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 
Napoleon. 



LUGENBEEL COUNTY 



Created, January 11, 1875, from original territory. 

Lugenbeel county is situated entirely within the boundaries of the Great 
Sioux Indian reservation. 



LYMAN COUNTY. 



Created, January 8, 1873, from original territory. 

Lyman county is situated on the west bank of the Missouri river, in 
southern Dakota, and entirely w ithin the boundaries of the Great Sioux 
Indian reservation. 



MARSHALL COUNTY. 



Area, 552,96') acres. Created March 10, 1885, (formerly part of Lay.) 
Organized, at a special election held, July 23, 1885, by which Ole Ruswick, 
Ralph Hay, and Henry M. Gerberick were elected commissioners. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



413 



Marshall is a county of eastern Dakota, south of the 7th standard paral- 
lel, and in the second tier west of the Minnesota state line. The Minne- 
sota and Wild Rice rivers have their sources in this county. Numerous 
lakes and ponds furnish water throughout its area. Native timber, such 
as box-elder, ash. burr-oak, elm, iron-wood, quaking-ash, bass-wood, 
maple, willow, and cottonwood, is found in scattering groves. Surface: 
the western half of the county lies in the James river valley, and is com- 
paratively level, while the eastern half lies on a plateau, and includes a 
part of the Coteau formation. These hills, though stony and broken in 
localities, contain some excellent farming land and meadows, and numerous 
coulees, with timber and running springs of water. Soil, generally, a dark, 
calcareous loam, with an admixture of c'ay and mineral salts. Sub-soil, 
heavy clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(Andover line,) twenty-rive miles; stations: Langford, Britton, Newark. St. 
Paul, Minneapolis A: Manitoba railway. (Aberdeen-Ratland line,) eighteen 
miles; stations: Kidder, Burch, Amherst. Total miles of railroad in 
county, forty- three. 

Vacant public lands, 16,680 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are four banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Britton, at Britton. Marshall County Bank, at Britton, C J. Harlow, 
president; George H. Craig, cashier. Job, Yoak & Co., at Britton, J. J. 
Aplin, cashier. Bank of Langford, at Langford, E. C. Bo wen, president; 
L. R. Knight, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Bugle, R. G. Bestor, publisher, Langford; Times, W. W. Wilson, New- 
ark; Dakota Daylight, J. W. Bankbury, publisher, Britton. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Britton, near the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 400; 
school-building, valued at $2,000; church edifices, etc. Assessed valua- 
tion town property, 1886, real, $20,000; persona L, $16,500; total, $42,500. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Langford, in the south; population. 150; school-building, valued at $800. 
Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $27,500. New- 
ark, in the north; population, 200; school-building, valued at $2,500; church 
edifices; public building, valued at $1,000; flour-mill, valued at $8,500. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, thirteen; school population, 596; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, thirty-three; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, sixteen; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $31.69; 
females, $27.58; value of all school property, $25,154.18; expended forschool 
purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $15,713.04; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $1,256.40; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $22,658; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$1,278.51. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. Horses. | M ^ s and 


Cattle. Sheep. Swine. Valuation. 


1886 1.364 110 

1887 1 2,183 171 


1,917 125 729 $ 133.529 
2,779 137 853 141,407 


VALUATION STATISTICS. 


Y Acres Real ! valuation l Town Lots .Personal Prop- 
Year - Estate. j valuation. valuation, erty valuation. 


Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 


1886 
1887 


117,515 
125,088 


S 310,000 : $ 67,000 $ 101,978 $ 612,507 
370,807 | 109,473 171,107 792,794 



414 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 




Wheat | none 139,806 546,000 

Corn I none 25.981 86,321 

Oats j noue 115;071 390,875 

Rye i none 410 1,260 

Bi ckwheat j none ' 371 700 

Barlev none 2,343 84,000 

Flax j none 65,000 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885,2,187. Lands improved, 1885, 
38,265 acres. Number of farms, 1885, (568. Average size of farms, 1885, 
fifty-seven acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.96 
County indebtedness, 1887, $6,370. Potato crop, 1885,17,895 bushels. Wool 
clip, 1885, ninety-live pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: but- 
ter, 30,074 pounds; cheese, 300pouncls; eggs, 6,161 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor J. H. McCoy Britton.... 

Treasurer D. Gr< enhalgh Britton.... 

Sheriff W. L. Hinkley Britton.... 

Clerk'District Court H. C. Hamilton Britton:... 

Probate Judge Geo. L. Baker |Britton.... 

Register of Deeds E. A. Cooper , Britton.... 

Attorney T. B. McDonough ! Britton...., 

Superintendent of Schools Wm. Cook Britton,... 

Surveyor Saml. Denton Britton.... 

Coroner Dr. Young 'Britton.... 

Assessor Albert Wismer ; Britton.... 

John Hnvern Newark... 

Commmissioners -\ IT. M. Oerbrio.k Langford 

A. Wooddard 'Britton 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


1887. 






Britton 

Bureh i 

Fort SissetO-n 


Kidder 

Langford 

Newark 


1 
.. Stena 

- 







MARTIN COUNTY. 

Created March 5, 1881. Boundaries changed, March 9, 1883. 

Martin is a county just south of the 46th degree of latitude, and entirely 
within the boundaries of the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article 
on this reservation in another part of this publication. 



McCOOK COUNTY. 



Area, 368,640 acre*. Created, January 8, 1873, from parts of Hanson and 
Jayne. Boundaries changed, Fe biliary 22, 1879. Organized, May 16, 1878, 
by appointment, by the Governor, of "the following commissioners, viz.: 
David Manary, Wm. H. Wells, Isaac Manary. 

McCook is a county of southeastern Dakota, situated in the second tier 
of counties west of the Minnesota state line, and the third north of the 
Nebraska boundary. Principal streams are the east and west forks of the 
Vermillion river, which flows through the'senter and east, and the Black 
Earth creek, which drains the western tier of townships. A few small lakes 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



415 



are found in the western half of the county. Surface, comparatively level, 
with slight undulations. Soil, a black loam, uniformly distributed over 
the uplands, and made up of vegetable deposits, from two to three feet 
in depth. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(main line,) twelve miles; station: Bridge water. Chicago & Northwestern 
railway, (Hawar den line,) twenty-seven miles; stations: Salem, Canistota. 
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railway, (main line,) twenty-four 
miles; stations: Montrose, Salem, Spencer. Total miles of railroad in 
county, sixty -three. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are four banks doing business in this county, as follows: C. S. 
Carr & Co., at Bridgewater. Montrose Bank, at Montrose, J. T. Hamil- 
ton, president; G. H. Farley, cashier. Citizens' Bank, at Salem, W. M. 
Shepard, president. Salem Bank, at Salem, J. H. Brown, president; Pick- 
ering Brown, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Dakota Journal, T. J. Ryan, editor and publisher, Bridgewater; The 
Times, A. F. Terrill, editor and publisher, Bridgewater; Herald, O. E. 
Bowman, editor, Montrose; Pioneer Register, George Nugent, editor, 
Salem; Special, J. E. Patten, editor, Salem. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Salem, near the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 800; 
school-building, valued at $2, 000; catholic, methodist,and reformed church 
edifices, valued at $7,000; court-house; city jail; fire department; opera- 
house, valued at $10,000; water-works (Holley) system; flour-mill, valued 
at |6,000; county fair grounds. Assessed valuation citv property, 1886, 
real, $88,700; personal, $4L,870; total, $130,570. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Bridgewater, in the southwest; population, 600; school-building; three 
church edifices ; grain elevators, etc. Montrose, in the east; population, 
350; school- building, vahied at $700; presbvterian, baptist, methodist, and 
catholic church edifices, valued at $3,000; flour-mill, valued at $8,000. 
Spencer, in the west; population, 250; school-building; baptist church 
edifice, valued at $1,200. A line quality of granite is quarried in the 
vicinity of Spencer. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, eighteen; school population, 1,512; 
number of school-houses in district, sixty-nine; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, two; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $32.17; females, 
$27.65; value of all school property, $43,55/ ; expended for school purposes 
during year ending June 30, 1886, $30,338.28; cash remaining in school 
treasury, June 30, 1886, $3,113.50; paramount of school bonds outstand- 
ing June 30, 1886, $45,715; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight 
per cent; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $6,172.55. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. Ml ^ e * lld : Cattle. Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 


471 30 1,107 22 256 




1885 
1886 
1887 


2,213 122 5,676 1 964 
2,752 134 6,901 739 
3,257 146 8,265 j 920 


3,108 
3,464 
4.178 


1 $ 125,172 

299,287 

1 231,590 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Acres Real 
Estate. 


Valuation. 


Town Lots 1 Personal Prop- 
valuation. Jerty valuation. 


Total assessed 
valuation of 

county. 


1880 




9 28,650 
467,217 
743,808 
752,050 




* 8 33,898 
114,235 
271.891 

224,595 


$ 62,548 


1885 
1886 

1887 


152,223 
174,621 
206,990 


$ 77,464 
203,845 
153,170 


784,088 
1,518.831 
1,361,405 


* 1880 


personal prope 


rty includes liv 


e stocu. 







416 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 

Bushels in , Bushels in Bushels in 
18S0 1885. 1887. 



Wheat 


11,013 


217,122 


600,000 


Corn 


10 862 


175.917 


987,500 


Oats 


9,160 


289,994 


406 250 


Rye 


221 


2,258 


4,250 


Buckwheat 


none 


1,441 


1.500 


Barley 


1,543 


24,550 


63,000 


Flax 


i none 




141,246 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 1,283; 1885, 5,641. Lands improved, 1880, 
7,746 acres; 1885, 88,177 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 239; 1885, 998. 
Average size of farms, 1880, thirty-two acres; 1885, eighty-nine acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.53. Potato crop, 1885, 57,156 
bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 6,363 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 
1885: milk, 36,678 gallons; butter, 203,993 pounds; cheese, 1,125 pounds; 
eggs, 107,358 dozen! 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. Name. 


P. O. Address. 


County Clerk I. J. Todd 

Treasurer J. H. Shanard 

Sheriff. iMathew White 

Clerk District Court >R. B. Crandail 


Palem 

Salem 

Salem 

Salem 


Probate Judge |J. T. McKee 

Register of Deeds I. J. Todd 


Bridgewater 


Attorney E. H. Wilsou 

Superintendent of Schools M. A. Lange 

Surveyor I. M. Stanton 


Salem 

Salem 

Salem 


Assessor Joshua Watson 

( [Wm. Blankortz 

Commissioners < |T. F. Deifendorf. 

( |J. Stalting 


Canistota 

Salem 

Montrose 

Canistota 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Bridge watar Montrose Spencer. 

canistota 'Ramsey j 

Dover Salem : 



McHENEY COUNTY. 

Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Buffalo. Boundaries changed, 
March 13, 1885, part of Stevens; changed again, March 11, 1887. Or- 
ganized, April 15, 1884, by the appointment, by the Governor of the fol- 
lowing commissioners, viz.: Aaron Pace, John Kingman, andE. Hackett. 

McHenry is a count} 7 of northern Dakota, situated north of the 48th de- 
gree of latitude, and midway between the eastern and western boundaries 
of the Territory. Principal stream, the Souris, or Mouse river, which 
enters the county at the southwestern corner, and flows north in a semi- 
circular course through thirteen or more townships. The Wintering, Cub 
Bank, and other important tributaries of the Mouse — together with num- 
erous lakes and ponds — supply an excellent quality of water throughout 
the county. Native timber, consisting of oak, ash, aspen, box-elder, and 
other varieties, line the bai<ks of the Mouse, and cover the sand hills of 
this region. Surface, river valley, gently sloping hills, and rolling prairie. 
Below Villard, the Mouse river valley is wide, and not often well denned. 
Above that point the encompassing hills are much higher, and the 



RESOURCES Of DAKOTA. 



417 



stream flows from 150 to 200 feet below the general surface of the county. 
Perhaps one-twentieth of the surface is covered with so called sand hills, 
which are clothed with grass and timber — affording excellent forage and 
shelter for stock. Soil, a rich, productive loam, covered with most nutri- 
tious of natural grasses, — a paradise for farmers and stockmen. Lignite 
coal is found in McHenry county. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad, 
thirty six miles; stations: Berwick, Towner, Denbeigh, Granville, Norwich. 

Vacant public lands, 481,098 acres; Bismarck land district, 204,000 acres; 
Devils Lake district, 277,098 acres. 

NEWSPAPEES. 

Mouse River Advocate, Frank W. Spear, editor and publisher, Towner; 
Leader, R. H. Copland, editor and publisher, Villard; News and Stock- 
man, Robert McComb, editor and proprietor, Towner. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Towner, on the Mouse river, is the county seat. It has a population of 
200; school-building, valued at $650; court-house; town hall; hotels; gen- 
eral stores, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, four; school population, 132; average 
monthly pay of teachers, males, $23.00; females, $35.00; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $305.35. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and 

Asses. 



Cattle 



Sheep. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



201 
232 
972 



990 
1,433 
4,972 



98 
287 
638 



143 

270 
258 



$ 37,316 

47,771 

128,870 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots I Person al Prop- T valuafion M of 
valuation, jerty valuation. 1 ™„",* on 0l 



1885 1,280 | $ 4,073 ;..., I 8 13 382 $ 54,771 

1886 . 3,348 11.245 ! I 16,976 I 75,992 

1887 10,566 31,070 27,884 | 187,824 



PAEM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 

1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 


! none 


285 
300 


9,440 




1 none 


150 




none 


31,620 


Rye 

Barley 


j none 

1 none 




130 




1,180 







MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 800. Lands improved, 1885, 
6,118 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 280. Average size of farms, 1885, 
twenty-two acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.94. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $5,938. Potato crop, 1885, 950 bushels. 



(H) 



418 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor (Allan Mitchell | To wrier...: 

Treasurer I Marion Pace iPendroy 

Sheriff |W. R. Pitts IVillard 

Clerk District < 'ourt Wm. P. McClintock (Towner 

Probate Judge Wm. D. McClintock: | Towner 

Register of Deeds |Geo. T. Inkster .Towner 

Superintendent of Schools ;H. J Kopperdahl iTowner 

Surveyor John T. Bailey (Mouse River. 

Coroner ('has. B. Jones (Towner 

Assessor j Levi B. Pendroy Pendroy 

(J. M- Pendroy Pendroy 
Ole Gilbertsou Towner 
Benjamin Reed Mouse River. 

| 'Gordon B. Sewell Towner 

L John Ely i Towner 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


1887. 




Mouse River 


.Towner 




, Pendrov 


.jVillard, 









MclNTOSH COUNTY. 

Area, 645,120 acres. Created, March 9, 1883, from part of Logan. Or- 
ganized, Sept. 25, 1884, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the fol- 
lowing commissioners, viz.: Chas. C. Morrell, Geo. W. Lilly, and Chas. 
V. Basye. 

Mcintosh is a county of central Dakota, bounded on the south by the 
46th degree of latitude, and the second county east of the Missouri river. 
There are no streams of any considerable size in Mcintosh county; but 
numerous small creeks, lakes, and ponds, furnish a good supply of water. 
Surface, rolling prairie, with occasional buttes and high plateaus. Soil, a 
rich mold, varying in depth from eighteen inches to four feet. Sub-soil, 
clay. Lignite coal is found in the buttes along the source of Beaver creek. 

Vacant public lands, 290,884 acres; Aberdeen land district, 77,124 acres; 
Bismarck land district, 213,760 acres. 

BANKS. 

There is one bank doing business in this county, as follows: Mcintosh 
County Bank, at Hoskins, Geo. W. Lilly, president; C. C. Hammond, 

cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Mcintosh County Herald, J. W. Kenagy, publisher, Hoskins; Mcin- 
tosh County Democrat, T. J. Lamunyon, publisher, Hoskins. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Ashley, in the center, a new town recently platted, on the line of the 
Aberdeen, Bismarck & Northwestern railroad, was selected as the county 
seat, by a vote of the people, in November of the present year, (1887.) 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Hopkins, south of the center; school-building, valued at $800; church 
and Sabbath-school organizations; general stores, hotels, etc. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, one; average monthly pay of teachers, 
females, $20.00; expended for school purposes during the year ending 
June 30, 1886, $99.29; par amount of school bonds outstanding June 30, 
1886, $1,500; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight per cent. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. Horses. 



M Asses| Cattle - ! Sheep, j Swine. | Valuation. 



1885 45 

1886 154 

1887 I 486 



6 150 ! i 3 $ .8.265 

19 I 668 I 13 I 69 | 31.720 
16 1.909 396 214 | 74,190 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



419 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Heal 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



utal assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1885 969 $ 3,389 $6,842 $ 6,202 81 24,758 

1886 10,383 ! 28,595 7,202 I 16,979 i , 84,496 
1887 1 51.039 290,469 _5^m__ 37,949 407,708 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 


none 
none 
none 
none 
none 




71,825 

83,000 

111,072 

12,558 

87,924 


Corn 

Oats 


200 


Barky 

Flax 


::::::::::::::•::::: 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 390. Lands improved, 1885, 
883 acres. Number of farms, 1885, seventy-one. Average size of farms, 
1885, twelve acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.22. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $3,329. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
butter, 530 pounds; eggs, eighty-Dine dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk J. H. Wishek Hoskins 

Treasurer W. F. Smith Hoskins 

Sheriff Alex McDonald Hoskins 

Clerk District Court C- C. Hammond Hoskins 

Probate Judge JA. Richards Hoskins 

Register of Deeds ;J. H. Wishek i Hoskins — 

Attorney Geo. H. Fay j Hoskins 

Superintendent of Schools John Ogden iHoskins 

Surveyor Geo. W. Lilly Hoskins 

Coroner Dr. H. Paasch j Hoskins 

Assessor H. A. Garb lmann IHoskins 

(Geo. W. Lilly, (chairman) IHoskins... 

Commissioners < C. C. Worrell Hoskins.... 

(,'C. V. Basve jColdwater 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 


ASHLEY 

Coldwater 


Lloskius 'Youngstown 

'Jewell 



McKENZIE COUNTY, 



Created, March 9, 1883, from part of Howard. Unorganized. 

McKenzie is a county of western Dakota, on the Montana boundary line, 
north of the 47th degree of latitude. Principal stream, is the Little Mis- 
souri, which flows through the county from the south to the northeast. 
Beaver creek is its chief tributary. No Government surveys have been 
made, as yet, in this county, but the surface and soil are said to be espe- 
cially adapted to farming. 

Vacant public lands, 368,640 acres. 

McLEAN COUNTY. 



Area, 400,000 acres. Created, March 8, 1883, from parts of Stevens, 
Sheridan, and Burleigh. Boundaries changed, March 12, 1885, part from 
Burleigh. Organized, October 16, 1883, by the appointment, by the Gov- 
ernor, of the following commissioners, viz.: John S. Veeder, Warner F. 
Lewis, and Chas. T. Martinson. 



420 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



McLean county is situated in northern Dakota, en the east bank of the 
Missouri river, north of the 47th degree of latitude. Principal stream, is 
the Missouri river, which washes the western and southern boundary of 
the county for a distance — including the windings of the stream— of sixty 
or seventy miles. Smaller streams are Painted Woods and Turtle creeks, 
watering the southern and eastern portions, and Wolf and Snake creeks, 
flowing through the north and west. There are many fine lakes in Mc- 
Lean county, some covering several thousand acres of land, and others 
quite small. The largest sheets of water are Turtle, Veeder, and Williams 
lakes. Springs of pure water abound in everj^ part of the county. About 
twenty square miles of the surface of this county are covered with a growth 
ol native timber, the chief varieties of which are cottonwood, willow, 
box-elder, and ash. This timber is distributed along the banks of the 
Missouri and its tributaries. Lignite, or brown coal, is found in quanti- 
ties sufficient to supply the entire Territory with fuel, for all time. It is 
Jound in all parts ot the county, in strata varying in tbickness from a few 
inches to fiiteen feet. Surface, generally, gently rolling prairie, except 
along the Missouri, where it is bluffy and. broken. In the extreme east- 
ern part, the surface is also slightly broken and billy. Much of the sur- 
face is valley land. Soil, chiefly, a rich, black loam,' sometimes taking mi 
a tinge of gray. Sub-soil, clay. A small part of the Ft. Stevenson mili- 
tary reservation extends into the extreme north west corner of the county. 

Vacant public lands, 112,640 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Times, C. F. Garrette, editor, Wash burn; McLean County Mail, J. E. 
Britton, editor and publisher, Washburn. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Washburn, on the Missouri river, is the count}^ seat. It h ■ <i popula- 
tion of 100; school- building, valued at $1,000; court-hou ? .aid jail, valued 
at $4,000; flour-mill, valued at $6,000; church organic .xons. Coal is mined 
in the neighborhood ot Washburn. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TO VNS. 

Coal Harbor, on the Missouri river hi the northwest; population, sixty; 
school-building, valued at $1,000. Extensive deposits of coal are found in 
the vicinity of Coal Harbor. Hancock, on the Missouri river, between 
Washburn and Coal Harbor; population, 100; school-building, valued at 
$750; church organizations, coal mines, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, nine ; school population, 246; number 
of school-houses in district, twelve; number of school-houses built in 
1886, one; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $42.40; females, $24.05; 
value of all scnool property, $8,530.93; expended for school purposes 
during year ending June 30, 1886, $4,955.51; cash remaining in school 
treasurv, June 30, 1886, $645.44; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $6,384; average rate of interest paid on bonds, seven per 
cent. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. Valuation. 


1885 291 

1886 382 

1887 501 


63 

104 

97 


600 
834 
981 


15 
45 
21 


106 $ 33.296 
442 50.521 
305 46.110 


VALUATION STATISTICS. 


VPftr 1 Acres Real Valuation i Town Lots |Personal Prop- 
Year - 1 Estate. valuation. valuation, erty valuation. 


Toial assessed 
valuation ol 
county. 


1885 89.291 $ 320.139 

1886 89.291 383,300 

1887 1 207,449 626,275 


$ 13,080 $ 14,863 
17.401 I 21,202 
21.140 | 23,820 


$ 381,378 
472,424 

717,845 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



421 



FAHM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in couiitv, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 

1887. 


Wheat 


none 


27,593 

62,402 
17 
24 
202 


77.129 


Corn 

0*tB 

Kye 


none 

none 

none 


30.240 

105,000 

800 


Barley 


none 


2,880 



MISCELLANEOUS STATIST I CS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1835, 942 Lands improved, 1885, 
9,470 acres. Number of farms, 1SS5, 276. Average size of farms, 1885, thir- 
ty-four acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887. $3.02. County 
indebtedness, 1887, about §19,000. Potato crop, 1885, 22,329 bushels. Dairy 
and other farm products, 1885: butter, 5,518 pounds; cheese, 380 pounds; 
eggs, 2,084 dozen. 

NAME AXD POSTOFF1CE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 18S7. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk Laurence Casselman Washburn 

Treasurer J Try A. Barnes Washburn 

Sheriff. Alfred Von Steiger Coal Harbor. 

Clerk District Court Chas. F. Garrette Washburn.... 

Probate Judge Peter Stewart Conkling 

Register of Deeds Laurence Casselman Washburn 

Attorney Nelson F. Boucher Washburn 

Superintendent of Schools L. M.Wallin, Washburn.... 

Surveyor Andrew Flodin Washburn 

Coroner V. W. Harris Conkling 

Assessor J. O. Fjarli Ingersoll , 

( James Bartron. (chairman) Coal Harbor 

Commissioners < J. P. Lindcleaf Ingersoll 

I Oliver O. Rhude Washburn ... 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


LS87. 


Coal Harbor 


1 
Falconer 


. Turtle Lake 






Eriekson 


Ingersoll 


. Weller 



Mcpherson county. 



Area, 737,280 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Boundaries changed, February 6, 1885, (tier of unorganized towns added 
to.) Organized, November 3, 1883, by appointment, by the Governor, of 
the following commissioners, viz.: John H. Darlington, L. Dow, Henry 
L. Moulton. 

McPherson is a county of central Dakota, bounded on the north by the 
7th standard parallel, and in the second tier of counties east of the Missouri 
river. Principal streams are Elm, Spring, Willow, and Foot creeks. Sur- 
face, in the eastern part, is mostly level prairie land; in the central por- 
tion, somewhat broken, and in the western, generally undulating. Soil, a 
rich loam, with clay sub-soil. Several lakes, and numerous ponds are 
scattered over its area. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul railway, 
(Roscoe line,) thirteen miles; stations: Hillsview, Eureka. 

Vacant public lands, 285,299 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are three banks doing business in this county, as follows: Ex- 
change Bank, at Hillsview, E. L. Hopkins, president. Bank of Leola, at 
Leola, C. N. Herried, president; C. Johnson, cashier. McPherson County 
Bank, at Leola, Chas. Turner, president; F. H. Turner, cashier. 



422 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



NEWSPAPERS. 

Blade, J. W. Sheppard, editor, Leola; The Northwest, Beach & Corn- 
wall, publishers, Leola. 



COUNTY SEAT. 

Leola, southeast of the center, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 300; school-building, valued at $1,500; court-house, valued at $2,000; 
church organizations, etc. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Hillsview, in the southwest; population 200; school-building, valued at 
$800; church organizations, etc. Koto, in the east; population, 150; school- 
building; church organizations, etc. Eureka, in the west; railway ter- 
minus; schools; church organizaiions, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, nine; school population, 296; number 
of school-houses in district, eleven: number of school-houses built in 
1885, seven; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $26.25; females, 
$26.83; value of all school property, $7,168.00; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 1886, $4,733.24; cash remaining in school 
treasury, June 30, 1886, $621.75; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $6,700.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, seven per 
cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $395.30. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


MU i e sser d ! CatUc. 


Sheep. | Swine. 


Valuation. 


| 

1885 496 78 996 

1886 865 48 | 2,429 

1887 1.087 54 | 3.348 


21 238 
186 541 

180 494 


9 42,585 

97,301 

129,154 


VALUATION STATISTICS. 


v Acres Real 
* ear - J Estate. 


Vol „. tin _ Town Lots 
\aluation. | valualion . 


Personal Prop To ^ST& 
erty valuation. Jjjgft 011 ° f 


1885 58.579 > $ 185,682 $ 2,109 

1886 j 98,890 281.463 914 

1887 128,828 360,595 | 8,877 


$ 19.530 l $ 249.906 
52,977 i 432.655 
61,597 - | 560.223 



FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for vears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 

1887. 




none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


12,319 

2,902 

18.563 

114 

18 

117 


175 500 




40.000 




194.000 


Rye 


630 


Barley 

Flax 


49,000 
144,000 



M 1 SCELL A NEOUS STATISTICS . 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 1,422; Lands improved, 1885, 
9,800 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 385. Average size of farms, 1885, 
twenty-five acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.79. 
County indebtedness, 18S7, $7,697. Potato crop, 1885, 4,329 bushels. Wool 
clip, 1885, eighty-five pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
butter, 4,800 pounds; eggs, 3,121 dozen. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 423 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 




P. 0. Address. 




Chas. Turner 














Sheriff 






Leola 


Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 


8 P. Hardenbrook.... 






Chas. N. Heneid 






Chas. Turner 

L. T. Boucher 

C. J.Collier 


Leola 


Superintendent of Schools 




Ira D. Taylor 






Dr. W. I. Hewitt 

D. A. Kiugslev 








f 


Geo. W. Chamberlain, 
VV W. Cornwall.... 


(chairman) 




| 






S P. Howell 






Geo. C. Kntckerbocke 
Peter Wittmeier 






L 







LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Alpha |Eureka.... 

Arena Hills view. 

Delhi Kalo 



.JLeola 

. Long Lake. 
.Westboro ... 



MERCER COUNTY. 



Area, 691,200 acres. Created January 14, 1875. Boundaries changed, 
in 1S8L, part to Burleigh; changed again. March 12, 18S5, part from 
Williams and part to Oliver. Organized, November 6, 1883, by the ap- 
pointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Thomas 
McGrath, Horace C. Walker, George Williams. 

Mercer county is situated in northern Dakota, north of the 47th degree 
of latitude, and on the south bank of the Missouri river, which forms its 
northern and eastern boundary. The Big Ktd.'e river, and its tributaries, 
are the only other important streams within the county. Considerable 
native timber is found along the banks of the Missouri and other streams. 
Extensive deposits of lignite coal underlay the surface. Surface, river 
bottoms, bluffs, and high, rolling prairie. The northern and eastern por- 
tions are somewhat broken by bluffs and sand hills, and there are, here 
and there, small buttes and stony ridges. Soil, the alluvial deposit and 
glacial drift oi the Missouri plateau. A part of the Fort Stevenson mili- 
tary reservation crosses the Missouri river and lies within the boundaries 
of Mercer comity. 

Vacant public lands, 114,080 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Pilot, A. C. McCrorie, publisher, Stanton. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Stanton, on the Missouri river, is the county seat. It has a population 
of seventy- five; school-building, valued at $1,500; court-house; saw-mill, 
etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886. real, $15,000; personal, §3,500; 
total, $18,500. 

OTHER I M PO RT A NT TO W NS . 

Hazen, on the Knife river; population, sixty; school-building, valued 
at $750. Assessed valuation town property, 1880. real and personal, $38,- 
000. Mercer, on the Knife river; population, 100; school-building, val- 
ued at $800; presbyterian and German lutherari church edifices, valued at 
$1,000. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $12,326. 
schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, three; school population, sixty-four; 
number of school-houses in district, six; number of school-houses built 
in 1886, six; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $36.50; females, 
$39.59; value of all school property, $5,706.75; expended for school pur- 



424 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



poses during year ending June 30, 1886, $6,995 90; cash remaining in school 
treasury, Jnne 30, 1886, |421.86; par amount of school bonds outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $5,000; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight per 
cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $2,055.01. 



LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Males and 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 

1887 



83 
1G4 
146 



7 4 2 
465 

370 



29 S 8.715 

148 12.385 

127 14,066 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



8,245 

7,746 

101,110 



$ 21.677 

29.273 

309.204 



$ 28,575 
23,924 
19.03L 



18.518 
11.273 
7.286 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 

$ 77,485 

76,855 

349,587 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Wheat. 
Corn.... 

Oats 

Barley. 
Flax.... 



Bushels in 
1880. 



none 
none 
none 
none 
none 




Bust. pIs in 
1887. 



9.970 

12,690 

14.730 

448 

368 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1S85, 254. Lands improved, 18S5, 
2,386 acres. Number of farms, 1885, seventy-five. Average size of farms, 
1885, thirty -two acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, i?2. SO. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $11,496. Potato crop, 1885, 5,095 bushels. 
Dairy and other farm products, 1885: butter, 1,660 pounds; eggs, 1,600 
dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1S87. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Countv Clerk 


H. O. Loy 

T. J. Hangeberg 

R. W. McGahan 


Stanton 


Treasurer 

Sheriff 


Stanton 

Stanton 


Clerk District Court 






Probate Judge 


F. F. Hills 

H.C. Loy 


Slat»n 


Register of Deeds 


Stanton 


Attorney 




Superintendent of Schools .... 


Z. L. Jones 

Stephen Card 

D. E. Wood 

Irven PL Rinar<1 

f Isaac Moore, (chairman) 

James Roberts 

....-! T. W. Jones" 

| Otto Kriger 




Surveyor 

Coroner 

Assessor 


Mercer 

Mercer 

Mercer 

Mercer 

Hazen 


Commissioners 






Causey 

Stanton 




1 N. P. Nyman 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Causey [Mercer. 

Hazen Slaton.. 



Stanton 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 425 

MEYER COUNTY. 



" Created, January 8, 1873, from original territory. Unorganized. 
[ y Meyer county is entirely within the boundaries of the Great Sioux In- 
dian reservation. See article on the Sioux reservation in another part of 
this publication. 

LIST OF TOSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Kosebud. 



MIXER COUNTY. 



Area, 368,640 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Hanson. 
Boundaries changed, February 22, 1879, parts to Bramble and Wetmore; 
changed again, March 3, 1881, part to Aurora; changed again, in 1 
to Sanborn, and part from Lake. Organized, November 8, 188'),}; 
pointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.. 
Arnold. Ephraim Corlies, and James I. Longley. 

Miner county is situated in southeastern Dakota, on the 44th degree of 
latitude, midway between the Missouri river and the Minnesota state line. 
Principal streams, are the west fork of the Vermillion river, and R 
stone and Marsh creeks, two branches of the James river. A few small 
lakes, and quite a number of ponds are scattered over various portions of 
the county. Surface, generally, a slightly undulating prairie, with 
valleys along the streams. The water-shed, or elevated lands, between 
the James and Vermillion rivers, includes a strip of country from six to 
ten miles through the center of the county, north and south. Soil, a 
rich loam, well adapted for all purposes of agriculture. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(main line,) twenty-four miles; stations: Roswell, Vilas, Howard. Chi- 
cago (k Northwestern railway, (Hawarden line.) twenty-seven miles; sta- 
tions: Carthage, St. Mary's', Vilas, Canova. Total miles of railroad in 
county, fifty-one. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are five banks doing business in this county, as follows: Plank of 
Carthage, at Carthage, Frank B. Ward, president; W. L. Palmer, cashier. 
Bank of Howard, at Howard. Security Bank of Dakota, at Howard, W. 
H. Wilson, president; C. L. Oleson, cashier. Bank of Vilas, at Vilas. Abe 
Cohn, president. Alias Banking Co , at Vilas, W. W. Girton, president; 
H. U inden. cashier. 

NEWSPAPJ 

The Breeze, J. M. Welch, editor and publisher, Canova; Dollar Weekly, 
F. C. Stowe, editor, Canova; The News, W. W. Cole, publisher, Cartl 
Prairie Home, Thomas McConnell, editor and publisher, Carthag 
F. N. Robinson, editor and publisher, Howard; Advance, S. II. Broi 
editor and publisher, Howard; Miner County Farmer, Girton & Tonne - 
son, editors and publishers, A'ilas. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Howard, on the Vermillion river, is the county seat. It has a popula- 
tion of 1,000; school-building, valued at $1,600; methodist, lutheran, epis- 
copal, catholic, and congregational church edifices, valued at £12,000; 
court-house, valued at $10,000; public hall; library, and free reading-room; 
creamery; flour-mill, valued at £20,000. Assessed valuation city property, 
1886, real and personal, $200,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Canova, in the south; population, 175; school-building, valued at $1,500; 
public hall, valued at $1,400; church organizations. Assessed valuation 
town propertv, ISSfJ, real and personal, $2,978. Carthage, in the north; 
population, 450; school-building, valued at $4,000; episcopal, and metho- 
dist church edifices, valued at $7,000; opera-house; flour-mill, valued at 



426 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



120,000. Roswell, west of the canter; population, fifty; school-building, 
valued at $800; methodist church edifice, valued at $1,S ! )0. Assessed val- 
uation town property, 1880, real and personal . 135.000. Vilas, in the center ; 
population, 300; school-building, valued at $600; baptist church edifice, 
valued at $1,200; artesian well; tow-mill, etc. Assessed valuation town 
property, 1886, real and personal, $48,000. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, thirteen; school population, 1,298; 
number of school-houses in district, sixty-six; number of school-houses 
built in 1886. eight; average monthly pay. of teachers, males, $31.31; 
females. $30.54; value of all school property, $47,675, expended for school 
purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $25,900.07; cash remaining 
in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $785.28; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30. 1886, $45,700; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$12,849. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and 

Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



2,084 
2.638 
2.896 



93 
109 
129 



4,466 
5:329 
5.759 



1,123 

1.225 

896 



1.609 
1,743 
1.226 



$ 163 611 
210,575 
213 497 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



jPersonalProp-l T °^LXTof 
erty valuation.] SJSH^ of 



1885 
1886 
1887 



114,050 | $ 489.033 
13S.SS5 ; 570.8-15 
162955 l 632/121 



$ 93,212 | S -147 214 - $ 893.070 
104,687 1 186,675 1.072,782 
118 996 218 163 1,182.677 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in countv, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in j Bushels in j Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat 1633 ! 231.645 682 500 

Cora I 8.070 I 85,240 813,500 

Oats I 2,509 178,681 363,000 

Rye | 60 623 3,575 

Buckwheat none , 3,634 2,250 

Bar'.ey ' 160 13,258 54,000 

Flax I no ne 1 ! 135,000 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of countv, 1880, 363; 1885, 4,928. Lands improved, 1880, 
8,242 acres; 1885, 69,497 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 100; 1885, 1,026. 
Average size of farms. 1880, eighty-two acres; 1885, sixty-eight acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.87. Countv indebtedness, 
1887, $14,932. Potato crop, 1885, 40,553 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 8,422 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 50,030 gallons; 
butter, 161,224 pounds; cheese, 1,365 pounds; eggs, 62,625 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Addre; 



Auditor Hugh Smith 'Howard. 

Treasurer L. Oleson j Howard. 

Sheriff M. II. Daly Howard. 

Clerk District Court 10. A. Crissey Howard.. 

Probate Judge J. I. Wells Howard. 

Register of Deeds |j. E. Mallery Howard. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 427 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. — Continued. 



Office. 




• 
Name. 


P. 0. Address. 


Atlornev 


of Schools.... 


(i. Eiierei 


Howard 


Suparintendent 
Coroner 




A. W. Mc'laran 

.7. B. Walters 

Geo. M. Stratton.... 


Howard 

Howard 




Cartilage 

Carthage 






r 

i 

...A 

1 
1 


E. G. Reeves 

H. W. Eddv 

J. P. Rynn. 

T. P. Reese 

B. B. Sander. Jr 


Commissioners.. 


Howard 

Howard 

Howard 



LIST OF PCSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Beaver Hanchett Paint Mary's 

TSerton Howard Vilas. 

Canova Miner.. 

Carth;ige Roswell. 



MINNEHAHA COUNTY. 



Area, 522,240 acres. Created April 5, 1862. Boundaries changed, Jan- 
uary 31, 1871, part to Hanson; changed again, January 8, 1873, parts to 
Lake and Moody. Organized, January 4, 1868, and Jno. Nelson, John 
Thompson, and Win. Melville, appointed commissioners, by act of Legis- 
lature. 

Minnehaha is a county of southeastern Dakota, bounded on the east by 
the Minnesota state line, and in the third tier of counties north of the 
Nebraska boundary. Principal stream is the Big Sioux river, flowing 
through the county a little east of the center, in a generally southerly 
direction. Near the south line, it turns back upon its course, flowing north- 
east, then north and northwest, through the city of Sioux Falls, then 
turning northeast, southeast, and, finally south, in which course it flows 
until its union with the Missouri river, near Sioux City, Iowa. Within a 
radius of six miles around Sioux Falls, its course, measuring its windings, 
is fully thirty miles. Its whole course, in the county, is approximately 
forty miles. At Sioux Falls and Dell Rapids, and at various points be- 
tween these two places, the river furnishes magnificent water powers. 
At Sioux Falls it has a total fall of ninety-one feet in a series of cascades, 
covering a distance of half a mile— and the en ire foil of the stream in its 
course through the county, is estimated to be about 175 feet. The Skunk 
river — an important affluent of the Sioux, draining the western portion 
of the county — also has a number of water powers along its course. 
The Pipestone creek. Split Rock river, and Beaver creek, all tributaries 
of the Big Sioux, drain the eastern end of the county. There are quite a 
number of lakes in Minnehaha county, the largest of which, are Wall, 
Clear, and Buffalo lakes. Extensive groves of native timber are found 
within the county — notably along the Big Sioux river. At Sioux Falls, 
Doll Rapids, and other points along the Big Sioux river and Pipestone 
creek, are out -cropping:-; of the famous Sioux Falls quartzite or granite, 
sometimes called jasper. At Sioux Falls nearly eighty feet of the rock 
is exposed. It is a most valuable building stone, — beautiful and 
lasting, and immense quantities are quarried annually, and shipped to all 
sections oi the northwest. Surface, undulating, or rolling prairie. A line 
of high bluffs from 100 to 150 feet in altitude, marks the course of the 
Big Sioux, from Sioux Falls to the Missouri river. The vail 
principal streams, in Minnehaha county, are quite extensive — especially 
is this true of the broad and fertile valley of the Sioux. Soil, deep, rich, 
alluvial loam. 

Miles of railroad m county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(Sioux City, Sioux Falls & Egan lire,) twenty-seven miles: stations: Dell 
Rapids, Keyes. Sioux Falls. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha 



428 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

railroad, (main line,) forty miles; stations: Sioux Falls, Hartford. Burling- 
ton, Cedar Rapids & Northern railway, (main line,) four miles; station: 
Sioux Falls. Illinois Central railway, (main line.) sixteen miles; station: 
Sioux Falls. Total miles of railroad in county, eighty-seven miles. 
Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are eight banks doing business in this county, as follows: Dell 
Rapids Bank, at Dell Rapids, G. H. Johnson, president; G. E. Bow r erman, 
cashier. First National Bank, at Dell Rapids, John A. Cooley, president; 
M. R Kenefick, cashier. Citizens' National Bank, at Sioux Falls, E. P. 
Beebe, president; E. M. Hills, cashier. Dukota National Bank, at Sioux 
Falls, Geo. H. Brace, president; C. C. Carpenter, cashier. Minnehaha 
National Bank, at Sioux Falls, E. A. Sherman, president; C. E. Johnson, 
cashier. Sioux Falls National Bank, at Sioux Falls, C. E. McKinney, 
president; C. L. Norton, cashier. Sioux Falls Savings Bank, at Sioux 
Falls, Wm. Van Eps, president; Mark Russell, cashier. Minnehaha 
County Bank, at Valley Springs, J. M. Bailey, Jr., president; N. J. 
Deisher, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Times, W. C. Nisbet, editor and publisher, Dell Rapids; Exponent, E. E. 
Griswold, manager, Dell Rapids; Daily Argus-Leader, Argus- Leader Com- 
pany, editors and publishers, Sioux Falls; Daily Press, Caldwell <k Bliss, 
editors and publishers, Sioux Falls; Land and Labor News, Klunder & 
Notton, editors and publishers, Sioux Falls; Minnehaha Teacher, H. J. 
Whipple, editor and publisher, Sioux Falls; Church News, Rev. Fred- 
erick -Gardiner, Jr., editor and publisher, Sioux Falls; Dakota Deutsche 
Zeitung, Carl Kleinpell, editor and publisher, Sioux Falls; Vesterheimen, 
S. O. Nordvold, editor and publisher, Sioux Falls; Educational Echo, H. 
M. Goddard and Geo. Dickson, editors and publishers, Sioux Falls; Enter- 
prise, Thomas J. Martin, editor and publisher, Valley Springs. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Sioux Falls, on the Big Sioux river,, is the county seat. It has a popula- 
tion of 10,000; four brick, public school-buildings, valued at $65,000; epis- 
copal,. two baptist, two methodist, congregational, presbyterian, two luth- 
eran, catholic, unitarian, Swedish, adventist, and reformed church edi- 
fices, valued at $101,100; water- works system, valued at $65,000; electric 
light plant, valued at $40,000; gas works, valued at $60,000; telephone sys- 
tem; street railway, valued at $40,000; two flour-mills, valued at $560,000; 
polishing works, valued at $80,000; packing house, valued at $50,000; cor- 
nice shops, valued at $20,000; vinegar works, valued at $10,000; cracker 
factory, valued at $40,000; two foundries, valued at $30,000; brewery, 
valued at $50,000; bottling works, valued at $20,000; broom factory, valued 
at $10,000; cooper shop, valued at $5,000; creamery, valued at $10,000; 
wagon and carriage factory, valued at $25,000; cheese factory, valued at 
$5,000; two brick yards, valued at $10,000; two cigar factories, valued at 
$10,000; pop factories, valued at $12,000; tank line ware-house, valued at 
$10,000; blank-book manufactory, valued at $1'),000; other smaller manu- 
factories, valued at $25,000. Baptist college; episcopal school, and St. 
Rose's catholic academy, — denominational institutions, located at Sioux 
Falls, w T ith buildings and grounds, valued at $150,0(50. For a descrip- 
tion of the baptist college and episcopal school, see pages 217 and 219 of 
this publication. Territorial institutions located at Sioux Falls; peni- 
tentiary, (Territorial and National,) and school for deaf mutes. For a 
description of the penitentiary and school for deaf mutes, see pages 213 
and 225 of this publication. One of the leading industries of the city, is the 
quarrying and shipping of native granite, building stone, and paving 
blocks. The granite is also polished and worked into various shapes for 
ornamental purposes, and employed where a beautiful and costly finish is 
desired. Tw r o concerns operating these quarries, have a cash capital in- 
vested of $125,000. The city has an opera house, fire department, county 
jail, etc, etc. Assessed valuation citv property, 1887, real, $2,975,455; per- 
sonal, $736,815; total, $3,712,270. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



429 



OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Brandon, in the east; population, fifty; school-building, valued at $850 j 
lutheran church edifice, valued at $850. Dell Rapids, in the north; popu- 
lation, 900; school-building, valued at $10,000; methodist, presbyterian, 
baptist, Scandinavian church edifices, valued at $12,000; creamery, with 
a daily capacity of 1,000 pounds of butter; flour-mill; brick yard. The 
granite quarries, of Dell Rapids, employ several hundred men, and ship, 
during the season, from 200 to 300 car loads of building and paving stone, 
each month. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real and personal, 
$336,043. Hartford, southwest of the center; population, 300; school- 
building, valued at $1,000; catholic and methodist church edifices, valued 
at $jJ,00u. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, 
$50,000. Keyes, north of Sioux Falls; population, 100; flour-mill; grain 
elevator; stone quarries, etc. Valley Springs, on the eastern boundary; 
population, 350; baptist and congregational church edifices, valued at 
$2,800; city hall; fire department; creamery; flour-mill, valued at $12,000. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, 111; school population, 3,609; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, ninety -one; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, one; average monthly pay of teachers, males, §33.89; females, 
$28.63; value of all school property. $101,543.99; expended for school pur- 
poses during the year ending June 30, 1886, $55,922.95; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $23,721.77; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30, 1886, $57,855.78; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, nine per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $1,455.31. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 



3.229 
4,767 
5.620 
6,169 



140 8,898 

175 12,850 

228 16 303 

214 19,035 



1,701 
5,691 
5,631 
5,932 



4.466 
10,602 
9.346 
8.491 



$ 224,637 
644,344 
725.424 





VALUATION STATISTICS. 


Y I Acres Real 
lear - Estaie. 


Valuation ' Town Lots ,' Personal Prop- ^lmiToTo^ 
valuation. va i na tiou. [erty valuation, county 


1880 


$ 885,312 * $412,149 1297.461 


1885 . 376 656 

1886 394,150 

1887 404,715 


1.337,343 , $ 793.451 278.121 2.633,552 
2,995.299 2,170,834 958,700 ' 6,769,177 
3.181.489 2,699,114 996,372 7,602.399 



* 1880, personal prupeny includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in 
1885. 



ushels in 

1887. 



Wheat 215,019 229,449 789,328 

Corn 151,282 313.943 1,038,654 

Oats 270,204 665,916 840.000 

Rye 7,966 5.999 20,700 

Buckwheat 31 2,081 6,000 

Barlev 50.909 110,319 233,325 

Flax none _ 300,000 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1870, 355; 1880, 8,251; 1885, 13,857. Lands im- 
proved. 1880, 104,618 acres; 1885, 220,429 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 
1,286; 1885, 1,753. Average size of farms, 1880, eighty-one acres, 1885, 126 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $7.86. County indebt- 
edness, 1887, $1.1,345. Potato crop, 1885, 67,911 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 
34,909 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk. 273,492 gal- 
lons; butter, 375,476 pounds; cheese, 7,572 pounds; eggs, 211,067 dozen. 



430 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 






Office. 


Name. 


P. 0. Address 


County Clerk 


N. E. Phillips 


Sioux Falls 


0. S. Hwenton 

John Su nd back 




Sheriff' 


Sioux Falls 


Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 


Cyrus Walts 

R. C. Hawkins 

N. E. Phillips 

A. A. Polk 

H. J. Whipple 

D. C. Rice 

R. C. Roberts 


Sioux Falls 

Sioux Falls 

Sioux Falls 




Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 

Coroner 

r 


Sioux Falls 


Sioux Falls 

Sioux Falls 

Sioux Falls .... 










Republican 






I 


0. F. Howies 


Dell Rapid* 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Brandon 

Celton 

Dell Rapids 

Fleetwood 

Grand Meadow. 

Hartford 

Highl and.. ...„..._ 



Keyes 

I ake City 

Lyons 

New Hope... 

Palisade 

Pennington 
[R epublican .. 



Sioux Falls.... 

Sverdrwp 

Taopi 

Valley Springs 

Wellington 

West Point 



MOODY COUNTY. 



Area, 337,920 acres. Created, January, 1873, from parts of Brookings 
and Minnehaha. Organized, August 11, 1873, by the appointment, by the 
Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Edward F. Pierce, David 
Faribault, and Harry Stoughton. 

Moody county is situated in southeastern Dakota, on the Minnesota 
state line, and in the fourth tier of counties north of the Nebraska bound- 
ary. Principal stream, is the Big Sioux river, which flows through the 
county from north to south, in a very devious course. Squaw, Bachelor, 
and Skunk creeks are tributaries of the Sioux, from the west, and Spring, 
Flandreau, Brookfield, and Pipestone creeks, are feeders from the east. 
These streams afford good water powers, at various points. A few small 
lakes are located in the southwestern part. A limited amount of native 
timber grows along the banks of the streams. Surface, generally, an un- 
dulating prairie, and river valley. The Coteau region, forming the water- 
shed between the Big Sioux and the James rivers, extends into the west- 
ern portion of the county. The valley of the Big Sioux river is a beauti- 
ful and fertile one. Soil, chiefly, a rich loam. Sub-soil, yellowish clay, 
mixed with some gravel. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St: Paul railway, 
(main line,) twenty-six miles; stations: Column, Sioux Falls Junction, 
Egan, Flandreau; (Sioux Falls & Egan line,) ten miles; station: Sioux 
Falls Junction. Total, thirty-six miles. Burlington, Cedar Rapids & 
Northern railway, (main line.) .four miles. Total miles of railroad in 
county, forty. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

Th^re are three banks doing: business in this county .as foPows: Bank 
of Egan, at Egan, James Smith, president; Geo. M. Smith, cashier. 
Farmers' and Merchants' Bank, at Flandreau, A. J. Smith, cashier. 
Moody County Bank, at Flandreau, T. II. McDonnell, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Express, Geo. P. Lanning, editor and publisher, Egan; Moody County 
Enterprise, H. M. Williamson, publisher. Flandreau; Herald, Alf. T. 
Whit nan, editor and publisher, Flandreau; Bee, George L. Bentley, edi- 
tor and publisher, Colman. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



4U 



COUNTY SEAT. 



Flandreau, east of the center, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 1,000; two school-buildings, valued at $12,000; catholic, methodist, epis- 
copal, and two presbyterian church edifices, valued at $11,000; court-house; 

flour-mill, valued at $12,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1880, real, 
$140,390; personal, $89,445; total, $179,835. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Colman, in the west; population, fifty; school-building, valued at $800. 
Egan, in the center; population, 500; school-building, valued at $6,000; 
baptist, and methodist church edifices, valued at $3,000; flax-mill, valued 
at $4,000. Trent, in the south; population, fifty; school-building, valued 
at $500. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, sixty-four; school population, 1,613; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, fifty-six; average monthly pay of teachers, 
males, $27.50; females, $23.86; value of all school property, $32,930; ex- 
pended for school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $22,928.78; 
cash remaining in school ireasury, June 30, 1886, $21,603.42; par amount 
of school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $30,789.50; average rate of in- 
terest paid on bonds, nine per cent.; amount of school warrants outstand- 
ing June 30, 1886, $215. ^ 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



i Mules and 
Asses. 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



1,482 
3,100 
3,2(35 
3,661 



72 
108 
1C2 

84 




Sheep. 



1.274 
1,681 
2.326 



Swine. 



3,178 
2.458 
1.897 



Valuation. 



8 171,132 
385.825 
372,225 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Re*»] 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation.! 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1880 
1885 
1886 



211.794 
229,089 
238 782 



§ 233 7' 3 

590.814 

1,349.485 

1,393.675 



$ 94,815 
178,625 
170.450 



* $ 195,297 
124.549 
229,140 
176.705 



9 429,010 

981 310 

2.143.075 

2 113.055 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 

; Bushels in Bushels in ! Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat 110 735 369.561 441,728 

Corn 49,847 52.185 158,270 

Oats 114.011 428.129 502.464 

Rye 1.450 2.939 3.360 

Buckwheat i 1375 

B.irley 20,716 107,322 80.500 

Flax ...^.^ i 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 3,915; 1885, 5,189. Lands improved, 1880, 
31,440 acres; 1885, 87,338 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 818; 1885, 905. 
Average size of farms, 1880, thirty-eight acres; 18S5, ninety-seven acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $5.83. County' indebtedness, 
1887, $5,200. Potato crop, 1885, 29,215 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 9,247 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: butter, 205,916 pounds; 
cheese, 550 pounds; eggs, 78,286 dozen. 



432 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. P. O. Address. 








J. F. Goodsell 

Albert Faegre 

J. W. Bennett 

James Wilson 

C. D. Pratt 








bheriff. 

Clerk District Court 


Flandreau 








::::::: 



f 




Register of Deeds 


F. E. Minier 






Egan 

Pell Rapids 


Superintendent of Schools... 
Surveyor 


W. W. Spear 


J Otis 




Dr. J. H. Schnll 


Egan 

Brook field 




0. H. Rorebeck 








L. Hasvold 

















LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY 


1887. 






Flandreau 








Italia 

Groveland 


...[Trent.... 




Egan 


...1 





MORTON COUNTY. 



Created, January 8, 1873, from original territory. Boundaries changed, 
February 10, 1879; changed again, February 8, 1881, 4 part to Burleigh; 
changed again, February 19, 1887, part from Stark. Organized, February 
21, 1881, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following commis- 
sioners, viz.: Elijah Boley, Lovett Gill, Michael Lang. 

Morton is a county of northern Dakota, on the west bank of the Missouri 
river, and bounded on the south by the Cannon Ball. Other important 
streams of the county, are the Heart, and the north fork of the Cannon 
Ball, both of which traverse its entire length from east to west; Square 
Butte, Otter, and GlenUllin creeks, and Sweet Briar, Little Heart, and 
Knife rivers. In addition to the streams named, the county contains 
many smaller brooks, and springs of excellent water. Surface, 
table land, high rolling prairie, river valleys and bottoms, and hilly 
ranges. The country adjacent to the Missouri river is marked by the 
usual fortification of high and rugged bluffs. The Heart river and other 
water courses of the county are bordered by bluffs — reaching beyond, into 
stretches of high prairie, broken by low, sweeping undulations. Between 
the ranges of hills, marking the courses of the various streams, are con- 
tained valleys, somewhat narrow, of great richness of soil: Soil, of the 
upland, the usual deep, productive loam, or glacial drift of the Missouri 
plateau. Along the banks of the streams, and covering the islands of the 
Missouri, are found groves of native timber, including the following varie- 
ties: Cottonwood, elm, ash, oak, and box-elder. Inexhaustible beds of 
lignite coal underlie Morton county, near the surface, and is mined with 
liitle or no expense. Quarries of excellent sand-stone abound, as also, de- 

Sosits of firebrick clay, and terra cotta clay. Something more than one- 
alf of the Fort Rice, and all of the Fort Abraham Lincoln military reser- 
vations, are included within the limits of the county. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific, 75.4 miles; stations: 
Mandan, Sunnyside, Marmot, Sweet- Briar, Sedalia, New Salem, Blue Grass, 
Sim?, Almmte, Curlew, Kurtz, Glen Ullin, Eagles Nest, Hebron, Knife 
River. Total, 75.-1 miles. 
Vacant public lands, 763,000 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are three banks doing business in this county, as follows: First 
National Bank, at Mandan, H. R. Lyon, president; H." Van Vleck, cashier. 
German American Bank, at Mandan. Northern Pacific Bank, at Man- 
dan, T. D. Merwin, president; Chas. E. Meech, cashier. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



433 



NEWSPAPERS. 

Times, J. E. Gates & Co., editors and publishers, Man dan; Daily 
Pioneer, R. M. Tuttle, editor and manager, Mandan. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Mandan, on the Missouri river, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 2,500; school-buildings, valued at $7,600; presbyterian, baptist, catholic, 
methodist, and congregational church edifices, valued at $22,000: brick 
court-house and jail, city hall and fire department houses, together 
valued at 142,50 >; water- works system, valued at $10,000; flour-mill, sash 
and wood- working factory, feed-mill, together valued at $125,000; exten- 
sive car repairing shops. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, 
$60(1,000; personal, $200,000; total, $800,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Glen Ullin, in the northwest; population, 100; school-building; congre- 

fational. and catholic church edifices, valued at $2,500; flour-mill, etc. 
lebron, in the northwest; population, seventy-five; German evangelical 
church edifice, valued at $1,200; parsonage, valued at $1,300; schools; 
grain elevator, etc. New Salem, north of the center; population. 200; 
school-building, valued at $2,800; German evangelical church edifice, 
valued at $1,100; fi.our-m.ill, valued at $9,o00. Assessed valuation town 
property, 1880, real and personal, $15,<H)0. Lignite coal, and an excellent 
clay for the manufacture of brick and tile, are found in the vicinity of New 
Salem. Sims, near the center; population, 400; school-building, valued at 
$4,000; lutheran church edifice, valued at $1,000. Two large coalmines 
are operated at Sims, and an excellent quality of lignite coal is mined, 
and shipped to various points along the line of the Northern Pacific rail- 
road. Assessed valuation town property, 1880, real and personal, $37,560. 
schools, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, fifteen; school population, 895; 
number of school- houses in district, fifteen; number of school-houses 
built in 1880, eight; average : : pay of teachers, males, $43.00; 

females, $35.37; value of all scho >l p , $19,599.00; expended for 

school purposes during year t 1886, $12,555.94; cash remain- 

ing in school treasury June 3 lount of school bonds 

outstanding June 30, 1886, $J of interest paid on 

bonds, eight per cent. ; amount oi iits outstanding June 30, 

1886, $2,992.16. 

LIVE ; •■ : ST 




Svfine. 



Valuation. 



410 
868 
563 



$ 114.307 
142,742 

176.257 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Y«ar. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Persona! Prop- 
erty valuat on. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1885 
1886 

1S87 



94.865 

106.818 

1.081,474 



I 388 628 

427,335 

2,912'980 



! 5 



752.174 
659.583 
701,850 



313,663 

271.709 
283,078 



$1,568,772 
1,501,369 
4,074.165 



F \ KM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
• 1880. 


Bushels in 

. 1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 

Corn 


none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


29 681 

50,228 

99,252 

430 

292 

4,534 


100,000 
132 000 


Oats 


243 000 


Rye 

Buckwheat 

Barlev 


1,170 
3,000 
1»,550 
2880 


Flax 



434 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 200, 1885, 5,873. Lands improved, 1885, 
20.853 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 898. Average size of farms, 1885, 
twenty-three acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.68. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $61,502. Potato crop, 1885, 97,525 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 1,508 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 
10,875 gallons; butter, 39,010 pounds; cheese, 9,900 pounds; eggs, 31,146 
dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 










Wm. P. Hilles 

Frank Briggs 

G. W. Harmon 

M. B. Dovle- 

H. G. Voss 

Jos. Miller 




Treasurer 

Sheriff... 


Mandan 

Mandan 






Register of Deeds 






Superintendent of Schools.... 
Surveyor 


r 
i 

i 


E. J Steele 

FT. H. Harmon 

E. W. Read 

Max Schultze 

Orville BroAvn, (chairman) 

George Peoples 

Elijah Boley 

H. S. Parkin 

H. F. Eidmann 














New Salem, 








Mandan 

Iflebron 





LIS1 OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 




Ft. Abr. Lincoln 

Glen Ullin 

Hebron 


; 

Mandan Sweet Briar 

New Salem 

|Sims 





MQUNTRAILLE COUNTY. 



Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Buffalo. Boundaries changed, 
in 1885, part to Garfield. Unorganized. 

Mountfaille is a county of northwestern Dakota, bounded on the north 
by the International bom dary line, and on the south — reaching to the 
Missouri river. Other principal streams, are the River of Lakes, White 
Earth, and Little Knife rivers. A great number of lakes and ponds are 
scattered throughout the county, and especially is this true of the Coteau 
region, which extends through the northern part. Surface, river bot- 
tom, bluffs, undulating prairie, and low, sweeping hills of the 
Coteaus. The surlace of Mountraille county, the character of the soil, 
and its rich, native grasses, together with an abundant supply of water 
and shelter, make the lands desirable for the farmer and stock grower. 
No Government surveys have been made, as yet, in this county. About 
one-half of the county is within the boundaries of the Fort Berthold In- 
dian reservation; but, under a recent agreement with the Indians — which 
agreement awaits the approval of congress — much of the land now with- 
held from settlement, will be thrown into market at an early day. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, 
forty-five miles; stations: Sidings, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. 19. 

Vacant public lands, 1 ,806,080 acres. 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, thirteen; 1885. thirty-seven. Lands im- 
proved, 1885, 381 acres'. Number of farms, 1885, five. Average size of 
farms, 1885, seventy-six acres. 

NELSON COUNTY. 

Area, 645,120 acres. Created, March 9, 1883, from parts of Ramsey, 
Grand Forks and Foster. Organized, May 15, 1883, by the appointment, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



435 



by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: David S. Dodds, 
Geo. S. Martin, and Francis I. Kane. 

Nelson county is situated in northeastern Dakota, being the second 
county west of the Red River of the North, and the third south of the 
International boundary line. Principal streams, are the Sheyenne river, 
which drains the southwestern portion of the county, and the Goose river, 
w T hich drains its eastern surface. The northeastern section is watered by 
feeders of the Park river. A great number of lakes, ponds, and marshes, 
are scattered over nearly every part of the county. Wamduska, or Stump 
lake, covering an area approximating sixteen square miles, or more than 
10,000 acres, is probably the second lake in importance in the Territory. 
Its waters are charged with chloride of sodium and other chemicals, the 
same as the waters of Devils Lake, on the west, with which it was con- 
nected at one time. Other large sheets of water are, Lake. Laretta, and 
Deer lake. Native timber fringes the shores of Wamduska lake, and 
grows along the course of the Sheyenne. Surface, generally, nearly level 
prairie. The surface of the southern ponion of the county may be bet- 
ter described by the term " rolling prairie." Along the south bank of the 
Sheyenne river, the land is somewhat bluffy. Wells of good water are 
easily obtained at a depth of from twenty-six to thirty feet. Soil, is com- 
posed of a deep, black loam. Sub-soil, limestone marl. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, 
twentv-six miles; stations: Petersburg, Michigan City, Mapes, Lakota. 

Vacant public lands, 25,000 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are two banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank 
of Lakota, at Lakota, Chas. A. Bowne, president. Nelson County Bank, 
at Lakota, M. S. Northcote, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Nelson CountyNews, Emery Mapes, editor and publisher, Lakota; 
Nelson County Capital, W. S. Fowler, editor and publisher, Michigan 
City; Times; J. W. Wallace, editor, Michigan City. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Lakota, northwest of the center, is the county seat. It has a popula- 
tion of 600; school-building, valued at $4,000; methodist and episcopal 
church edifices, valued at $3,500; court-house and jail, valued at $5,000; 
grain elevators, etc. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Adler, in the east; population, thirty; school-building, valued at 
$950. Harrisburg, on Stump lake; population, thirty; school-building, 
valued at $200. Mapes, east of Lakota, school-building; church edifices, 
etc. Michigan City, north of the center; population, 300; school-building, 
valued at $3,300; catholic and congregational church edifices, valued at 
$2,000; grain elevators, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1880, real 
and personal, $90,000. Petersburg, in the east; population, forty; school- 
building, valued at 8800. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, twelve; school population, 487; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, eighteen; number of school- houses built 
in 1886, two; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $45.00; females, 
$35.50; value of all school property, $21,01.0.00; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 80, 188!), $15,700.00; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June bO, 1886, $4,677.00; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $12,800.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 188G, 
$1,500.00. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. Horses. ; Mu ^ e8 and 


cattle. 


Sheep. ; Swine. Valuation. 


1885 958 189 

1886 1,878 225 

1887 1,524 237 


2.132 
2,830 
3,587 


257 386 $ 144. IS I 
381 1.019 192,455 
375 752 202,501 



436 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 

Estate. 



v a i,i«tir*, i Town Lots Personal Prop- ™ a ,\ "£" e( J 
Valuation. I valuatioll# i er ty valuation.' ™i™ ty 0f 



1885 
1S86 
1887 



198.713 
233.099 
259,077 



S 594.335 
700.295 
747,133 



8 36,955 
48.596 
62.063 



$ 109.881 
150,124 
167.118 



$ 885,852 
1,091,470 
1,178,815 



FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in 
1885. 



Bushels in 
1887. 



Wheat 


none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


132,525 

15 

123,450 

360 

3,696 


930,278 

429 

396,306 


Corn 

Oats 


Rye 


Barley 

Flax 


67,184 

5.200 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 3,031. Lands improved, 1885, 
70,532 acres. Number 'of farms, 1885,1,141. Average size of farms, 1885, 
sixty-two acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.88. County 
indebtedness, 1887, $29,450. Potato crop, 1885, 20,830 bushels. Wool clip, 
1885, 243 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 18S5: milk, 1,158 gal- 
lons; butter, 19,537 pounds; eggs, 7,213 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 






Name. 


P. O. Address. 


Auditor 


A. 

W 

F. 


N 
m. 
K 
8 
D 
m. 
N 
M 
m . 
. R 
O. 
H. 
T. 
s. 
E. 
11. 


Tofthacen 

C. Daniels 

McCoy 

Tallant 

Iruit 


Lakota 




Sheriff 


Lakota 


Clerk District Court 


f 


W 
H 

\Y 
M 
J. 
W 

w 

0. 

T 


Lakota 

Lakota 




Parker 

. Johnson 

Myres 

Groves 

. Hubbert 

Forde 

Mci aughlin, (chairman) 

Morken 


Lakota 


Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools.... 

Surveyor 

Coroner 

Assessor 


Lakota 

Lakota 

Hartlett 

Michigan C 
Ottofy 


ty. ".""".' 




1 T. 
....-{ Ja 


Baconville. 

Ottofv 

Bue 




Commissioners 


Collins 

Olsgard 

Ryall 






AdleT 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Adler Harrisburg 

Aneta Lakota 

Baconville Lee 

Bue Mapes 

Crosier i Michigan City 




NOWLTN COUNTY. 



Created March 8, 1883. Unorganized. 

Nowlin is a county of southern Dakota, situated between the Cheyenne 
and White rivers, and entirely within the boundaries of the Great Sioux 
Indian reservation. See article on the Sioux reservation elsewhere in 
this publication. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 
OLIVER COUNTS . 



437 



Area, 460,800 acres. Created, March 12, 1885, from part of Mercer. Or- 
ganized March 12, 1885, and Henry Sawyer, H. E. Fisher, and Lewis Con- 
nolly, appointed commissioners, and Raymond designated as county seat, 
by act of Legislature. 

Oliver is a county on the west bank of the Missouri river, and north of 
the 47th degree of latitude. Principal stream is the Missouri river, the 
eastern boundary of the county. The Knife river and its tributaries 
drain the northern and western portions, and Square Butte creek flows 
southeasterly, from the center of the county. There are quite a number 
of springs, ponds, a»d small brooks, watering every township. Surface, 
near the Missouri river, has the usual characteristics — high, rugged bluffs, 
river bottoms, numerous islands, small bars, bayous, etc. The county, 
generally, is somewhat hilly — although there is an abundance of excellent 
farming land along the valleys of the streams, and on the rolling prairie 
between the dividing ridges. Soil, the rich, alluvial deposit, found on the 
Missouri plateau. Considerable native timber grows along the margin of 
the great river, and of the smaller streams. Lignite coal underlies the 
county, near the surface, outcropping at many places. 

Vacant public lands, 174,080 acres. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Sanger, on the Missouri river, is the county seat. It has a population 
of seventy-five; school-buildings; church organizations; county building; 
business houses; hotels, etc. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Harmon, in the southeast; population, twenty-five; schools; church or- 
ganizations; two cheese factories; business houses; hotel, etc. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, two; school population, ninety; num- 
ber of school-houses built in 1886, four; average monthly pay of teachers 
males, $30.00; females, $30 00; value of all school property, $1,017.32 
expended for school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $881.97 
cash remaining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $115.96; par amount of 
school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $1,000.00; average rate of interest 
paid on bonds, eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $517.75. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 




VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots iPersonalProp-I^^^Xn 8 ^ 
valuation. . or ty valuation.' valuation of 



county. 



1887 



231,030 



$ 41,285 
486,917 



1.099 



I 9 10,457 
10,265 



$ 84,236 
| 525,193 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in Bushels in Busr els in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Buckwheat 
Barley 



none 
none 
none 
none 
none 



1.816 

8 165 

29,010 

20 

60 



6,000 
15,000 
12,000 



438 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

MISCELLANE< >US STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 327. L nds improved, 1885, 
3,612 acres. Number of farms, J885, 100. Average size of farms, 1885, 
thirty-six acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, §2 11. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $2,618. Potato crop, 1885, 8,475 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 3,558 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
butter, 7,760 pounds; cheese, 4,400 pounds; eggs 7,665 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



County Clerk , Robt. Hutchinson Sanger 

Treasurer W. B. Smith Sanger 

Sheriff |W. B. Haight Sanger 

Probate Judge H. M. Mauley 'Harmon 

Register of Deeds Robt. Hutchinson Sanger 

Superintendent of Schools 'Mrs. Susan Penney Sanger 

Surveyer E. G. Chapman {Sanger 

Coroner Mas. A. ('ulligan 'Sanger 

Assessor Geo. W. (Gordon {Sanger 

[Louis Connolly, (chairman) |Hensler 

Commissioners < J W. Hendricks Sanger 

(.John D. Albers |New Salem. 

LIST OF POSTOFFIGES IN COUNTY, 1887. 

Harmon | Hensler | Klein I Sanger 



PEMBINA COUNTY. 



Area, 967,680 acres. Created January 9, 1867. Boundaries changed, 
January 31, 1871, parts from Chippewa and Kittson; changed again, Janu- 
ary 4, 1873, parts to Cass, Cavalier, Foster, Grand Forks, La Moure, Ram- 
sey, Ransom, Renville, and Stutsman; changed again, in 1881, part to 
Walsh. 

Pembina, a Red River valley county, is situated in the extreme north- 
eastern corner of the Territory. Principal streams, are the Red River of 
the North — the eastern boundary of the county; the Pembina river, which 
rises in Canada, but flowing south, and then east, it traverses the northern 
tier of townships, adding its volume to the Red at the city of Pembina; 
the Tongue river, which enters the county on the west, takes a north- 
easterly course, emptying into the Pembina river, not far from its mouth, 
and two branches of the Park river, which drain the southwestern por- 
tion of the county. Groves of native timber, including oak, elm, cotton- 
wood, and other varieties, fringe the streams of this county, The Pem- 
bina river is quite heavily timbered. The slopes of the plateau, in the 
western portion of Pembina county, are also thickly timbered, with 
a growth of aspen, oak. elm, willow, etc. The greater portion of the 
county is a vast, level plain, or valley, of the famous Red River region. 
Beyond this plain, to the west, the surface rises in a series of terraces, 
and is quite hilly and broken. Soil, the deep, rich, black soil of the Red 
River valley. Sub- soil, yellow clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, 
thirty-three miles; sta'ions: Neche. Bathgate, Hamilton, Glasston, St. 
Thomas. Northern Pacific railway, (Grand" Forks-Pembina line.) thirty- 
three miles; stations: Drayton, Roane, Pembina. Total miles of railroad 
in county, sixty-six. 

Vacant public lauds, none. 

BANKS. 

There are eight banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank 
of Drayton, at Drayton, S. R. Smith, president; H. L. Crandall, cashier. 
Bathgate Dakota Bank, at Bathgate, E. A. Harman, president; C. T. Har- 
man, cashier. Citizens' Bank, at Bathgate, C. L. Parker, cashier. Bank 
of Hamilton, at Hamilton. W. H. Randall, president; B. P. Dayman, 
cashier. Bank of Neche, at Neche, H. L. Holmes, president;. James 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 439- 

Thomson, cashier. First National Bank, at Pembina, L. E. Booker, 
president; G. W. Ryan cashier. Pembina County Bank, at St. Thomas, 
H. Strong, president; H. P. Smith, cashier. Bank of St. Thomas, at St. 
Thomas, John D. Batson, president; A. B. Little, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Pembina County Democrat, Frank A . Wilson, editor and publisher, Bath- 
gate; Pioneer-Express, Wardwell & Thompson, publishers, Pembina; 
Times, Grant S. Hager, editor and publisher, St. Thomas; Pembina 
County News, McMillan & Muir, publishers, Hamilton. 

COUNTY SKAT. 

Pembina, on the Red River of the North, is the county seat. It has a 
population of 1,000; school-buildings, valued at $10,500; methodist, catho- 
lic, episcopal, presbyterian, and two lutheran church edifices, valued at 
$9,000; court-house and jail, valued at $16,000; flour-mill, valued at $22,000; 
brewerv, valued at $16,000. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, 
$160,000; personal, $120,000; total, $280,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Bathgate, northeast of the center; population, 500; school-building, 
valued at $1,200; baptist, methodist, presbyterian, and catholic church 
edifices; town hall, valued at §2,000. Assessed valuation town property, 
1886, real and personal, $100,000. Beaulieu, in the west; school -building, 
valued at $1,500; baptist church edifice, valued at $2,000. Cavalier, west 
of the center; population, 200; school-building, valued at $500; church 
edifice, valued at $2,500. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, $37,000. 
Gaidar, in the southwest; population, eighty; school-building, valued at 
$1,000; business houses, hotels, etc. Glasston, south of Bathgate; popu- 
lation, 100; school-building, valued at $500; general stores; grain eleva- 
tors; hotel, etc. Hamilton, between Bathgate and Glasston; population, 
300; school-building, valued at $2,0 0; baptist, presbyterian, and metho- 
dist church edifices, valued at $9,000; city building, valued at $4,000; ar- 
tesian well; four grain elevators, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 
1886, real and personal, $120,000. Mountain, in the west; population, 120; 
school-building, valued at $400; lutheran church edifice, valued at $1,500. 
Neche, on the northern boundary; population, 400; school-building, val- 
ued at $2,000; presbyterian, methodist, and catholic church edifices, val- 
ued at $5,000; city building, valued at $2,000. Assessed valuation town 
property, 1886, real and personal, $50,000 St. Thomas, in the south; pop- 
ulation, 850; school-building, valued at $1 ,500; baptist, catholic, and meth- 
odist church edifices, valued at $6,500; city buildings; artesian well, val- 
ued at $6,000; six grain elevators, etc. Assessed valuation city property, 
1886, real and personal, $108,000. Stokesville, in the southwest ; popula- 
tion, fifty; school-building, valued at $10,000; catholic church edifice, val- 
ued at $1,500; lime-kilns, etc. Walhalla, in the northwest; population, 
100; school-building, valued at $6 000; catholic church edifice, valued at 
$700; flour-mill; two steam feed-mills; saw-mill; creamery; carriage- 
works. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $18,000. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, 100; school population, 3,658; number 
of school-houses in district, seventy -one; number of school-houses built- 
in 1886, twelve; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $45.17; females, 
$30.75; value of all school property, $55,045; expended for school purposes 
during year ending June 30, 1886, $39,478.32; cash remaining in school 
treasury, June 30, 1886, $7,692 85; par amount of school bonds outstand- 
ing June 30, 1886, $51,350; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight 
percent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $3,718.88. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. Horses. M ^g S S eo aI1< *| Cattle. Sheep. Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 780 9 1,885 871 


* 


1885 4,157 201 6,G32 7U7 4,159 

1886 5 171 218 7,783 987 5,318 

1887 5.G33 214 9 306 1.422 2,957 


$ 395,842 
434,247 
485,095 



440 



Year. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1880 
1885 



1887 



429,734 

456,812 
477.151 



$ 118,107 
1,288,742 
1,286,811 

1,244.739 



$ 112,211 

182,966 
263.451 



* $ 149,636 
432,151 
474,810 
541,056 



$ 267,748 
2 228,946 
2.828,384 
2,534.841 



* 1880.. personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushel" in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 




63,676 
582 
29 609 
none 
none 
8,673 


2,056,733 

4.388 

693,631 

105 

184 

106.612 


4.002.500 
81.000 


Oati; 


1,715,000 


Rve 






Barley 


4L iOS 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1870, 1,213; 1880,4,862; 1885, 11,510. Lands im- 
proved, 1880, 20,879 acres; 1885, 226,519 acres. Number of farms, 1880,498; 
1885, 2,080. Average size of farms, 1880, forty-two acres; 1885, eighty- 
four acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.60. County in- 
debtedness, 1887,140,000. Potato crop, 1885, 180,874 bushels. Wool clip, 
1885, 8,337 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 5,940 gal- 
lons; butter, 271,165 pounds; cheese, 725 pounds; eggs, 224,754 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor J. H. Bird Pembina 

Treasurer T. J. Lemon Pembina 

Sheriff W'm. James Pembina 

Clerk District Court Henry D. Boy den Pembina.... 

Probate Judge E. A. Armstrong Pembina 

Register of Deeds W. M Holbrook St. i homas. 

Attorney G. 11. Megguire Pembina 

Superintendent of Schools |C. E. Jackson i 'embina 

Surveyor 

Coroner 



f 

Commissioners \ 



Frank Hebert iCavalier 

Dr. Muir Hamilton... 

E. II. Bergman, (chairman) Gardar 

H. C. Arnold Crystal 

H. McGrUinp Ernest 

L. L. Haigtal St. Thomas. 

[ J ml La Moure Pembina.... 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 





GHasston 

Hallson 






Bay Ceuier 


Pittsburgh 






Hamilton 

Hvde Park 

Joliette 




Bowesmont 


^rattfoTd 


Ler 

Crvsial. . 


Leroy 

McConnell 


Stokesville 




Walhalla 


Ernest. 




Wel/'ord 


Evford 




Young 




Gardar 













PENNINGTON COUNTY 



Area, 1,024,000 acres. Created, January 4, 1875, from original territory. 
Boundaries changed, February 10, 1877; changed again, in ]879, part to 
Ziebach; changed again, in 1883, part of Martin. Organized, March 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 441 

5. 1877, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following commis- 
sioners, viz.: It. If. Vosburg, M. M. Fuller, and Edwin L 

Pennington is a county of the Black Hills, in the southwestern portion 
of the Territory, and the third county north of the Nebraska state line. 
Principal Btreams, are the Cheyenne river, which forms the eastern boun- 
dary of the county, and Box-Elder, Rapid. Spring, and Battle creeks, all 
tributaries of the Cheyenne. At Rapid City, Rapid creek furnishes an 
excellent water-power. Surface, about equally divided into mountainous 
and open country, the western portion extending into the heart of 
the Hills, and the eastern including the main valley and plains. One 
third of the great, granite region of the Hills is within the limits of Pen- 
nington county, including Harney's Teak, the loftiest summit in the I'.lack 
Hills, which reaches an altitude of 8,200 feet above the sea, and is situated 
twenty-three miles southwest of Rapid City, in an air-line. To the north 
and northwest of llarney, the horizon is pierced by innumerable peaks, 
and ridges, with many beautiful valleys intervening. In places there are 
open prairie lands, elevated from 4,500 to 6,000 feet above the sea A line 
drawn north and south, through Rapid City, very nearly divides the hilly 
from the level or plains region, lying to the east. The valleys of the lower 
Box-Elder, tiapid, and Spring creeks, are broad and fertile. The valley 
of the Cheyenne is, for the most part, narrow, with high, steep bluffs. 
This valley" as also others in the county, is occupied by extensive cattle 
ranches. Deposits of tin. gold, silver, copper, and other valuable mineral 
ores, and beds of gypsum, marble, and building stones of every de- 
scription abound, and are inexhaustible. The whole western part of the 
county is heavily timbered, principally with hard pine, spruce, balsam, fir. 
birch, oak. aspen, and willow. For a more extended description of the 
Black Hills country, see the article elsewhere in this publication. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern railway, (Fremont, 
Elkhorn <k Missouri Valley line,) twenty- nine miles; stations: Maverick, 
Brennan. Rapid City. 

Vacant public lands, 721,1)82 acres; 506,000 acres unsurveyed. 

BANKS. 

There are two banks doing business in this county as follows: Black 
Hills National Bank, at Rapid City, H. G. Hall, president; II. S. Hall, 
cashier. First National Bank, at Rapid City, Richard C. Lake, president; 

James Ilalley, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Daily Journal, J. B. Gossage, publisher; R. B. Hughes, editor, Rapid 
City; Daily Republican, John P. McMan us, editor and publisher, Rapid 
City; Black Hills Democrat, G. W. Barrows, editor and publisher, Rapid 
City. 

COUNTY SKAT. 

Rapid City, in the north, is the county seat. Ithasa population of 5,000; 
school- buildings, valued at 125,000; congregational, methodist, presbyte- 
rian, and catholic church, edifices, valued at $8 000; brick court-house and 
jail; city hall; library; fire-department houses; street railway, valued at 
$10,000; water-works system, valued at $50,000; electric light plant, valued 
at 17,000; flour-mill, valued at $30,000; broom factory; telephone system. 
Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, $1,100,000; personal, $400,000; 
total, $1,500,000. The Dakota school of mines is located at Rapid City, for 
full description of which see page 210 of this publication. 

schools, (statistics 1880.) 

Number of organized townships, eleven; school population, 731; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, twenty; number of school- houses built 
in 1886, four; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $73.83; females, 
$46.67; value of all school property, $28,890; expended for school pur- 
poses, during year ending June 30, 1886, $16,064.53; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1880, $595.78, par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1880, $14,900; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$4,517. 



442 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 







LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 




Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and! ra+tlp 
Asses. | 0aaie - 


Sheep. Swine. Valuation. 


1880 284 53 2 951 59 101 


* 


1885 
1886 

1887 


1,803 
2,590 
2.929 


149 9.869 
143 1 7,725 
2i7 7.333 


2.250 253 

2,520 1 256 
1 4,037 | 283 


$ 251.455 
296.185 
319,135 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Y j Acres Real 

lear - Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



20 308 
44.500 
75,118 



40.6G6 1*8148,887 8 189,443 

115 860 8 307.829 252,845 927,989 

374,370 1,147.967 I 447 318 2 265,840 

435.020 1,057,180 419.575 2,230.910 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

, Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for vears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 

1887. 


Wheat..: 


1 
| 1,423 


13,115 

6,315 

81,432 

76 

12 

5,076 


144 000 




710 


30 400 


Oats 

Rve 


j 10.5G9 


360, 000- 
1 250 


Buckwheat 


33 


1.250 


Bar ev 


1 1,339 


17,500 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 2,244; 1885, 3.224. Lands improved, 1880, 
1,359 acres; 1885, 28,386 acres. Number of farms, 1880, fifty-three; 1885, 
352. Average size of farms, 1880, twenty-six acres; 1885, eighty-one acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre. i887, $5.79. County indebtedness, 
1887,1111,756. Potato crop, 1885, 24,029 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 11,585 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: butter, 49,321 pounds; 
cheese, 228 pounds; eggs. 29 246 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor 

Treasurer 

Sheriff 

Clerk District Court 
Probate Judge 



Geo. C. Hunt |Rapid City.. 

John Keliher Rapid City.. 

Roliert Boyd, Jr Rapid City.. 

B. E. Padgett Rapid City.. 

Levi McGee Rapid City.. 

Register ol Deeds Ijacob S. Gantz Rapid City.-. 

Attorney W. I. Walker Rapid City.. 

Superintendent of Schools |Ja?. r - Mean-, Rapid City.. 

Surveyor ( Chas W. Kryden Rapid City.. 

Coroner iAbel Mathias Rapid City.. 

Assessor Horace Crockett ! Rapid City.. 

Geo. Hunt Rapid ( ity.. 

J. B. Scruton Rockerville. 

R. D. Kennedy Lookout 



Commissioners. 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 





Link 








Lookout 


Rochford 

Rockerville 

Sheridan 

Silver City 
















Hill City 


Pactola 









RESO URC ES OF D A KOTA . 443 

PIERCE COUNTY. 

Created, March 11, 1887, from DeSmet, parts of Rolette, Bottineau, and 
McHenry. 

Pierce count}- is situated in northern Dakota, in the second tier of 
counties south of the International boundary line, and between Devils 
Lake and the Mouse river. Principal stream, the Sheyenne river, which 
drains the southern half of the county. A great number of beautiful and 
picturesque lakes abundantly supply the northern portion with water. 
Surface, river valley, rolling prairie. The county is filled with rich agri- 
cultural lands, and fine pastures of native grasses. Scattering groves of 
native timber grow in the vicinity of the headwaters of the Sheyenne. 
Soil, a rich loam, from eighteen to twenty-four inches deep, under which 
is a sub-soil of about eight feet of gray marl. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad, 
twenty miles; station: Rugby Junction; (Bottineau extension,) eighteen 
miles; stations: Rugby Junction, Barton. Total, thirty-eight miles. 

Vacant public lands, 312,560 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Rugby Junction Advance, Rugby. 

LIST OF POS TOFFIOES IN CO UNTY, 1887. 
I) -liney I Hurricane Lake | Rugby 

POTTER COUNTY. 

Created, 1873, (as Ashmore,) from part of Buffalo; January 4, 1875. name 
changed. Boundaries changed, March 8, 1883, part from Faulk. Organ- 
ized, November 6, 1883. by the appointment, by the Governor, of the fol- 
lowing commissioners, viz.: Chas. A. Gilchrist, O. S. Shaw, and F. G. 
Kretschmer. 

Potter county is situated in southern Dakota, and is bounded on the 
north by the fifth standard parallel, on the south by the fourth standard 
parallel, and on the west by the Missouri river. The county is traversed, 
in the northwest, by the Little Cheyenne river, and its numerous branches. 
A large branch of the Okobojo creek drains the southeastern part; Arti- 
choke creek waters the townships of the southwest. A number of large 
lakes and ponds are distributed over the county. A considerable growth 
of native timber, consisting of white ash, box-elder, cottonwood, and elm, 
borders the banks of the Missouri. Surface, of the middle, eastern, and 
southern portions, rolling prairie, broken, only near the eastern 
boundarv, by the foot-hills of the elevations— miscalled the Bald mount- 
ains. Adjacent to the Missouri river and Okobojo creek, the country is 
broken, more or less, by bluffs and ravines. The bottom-lands. along"the 
Missouri and other streams, are sometimes quite extensive. Soil, a deep, 
dark, gravish loam, composed of sand, clay, disintegrated rock, and vege- 
table deposit. Sub-soil, a yellow clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago & Northwestern railway, (Water- 
town-Faulkton line,) twenty miles; stations: Lebanon, Gettysburg. 

Vacant public lands, 79,080 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are two banks doing business in this county, as follows: Potter 
County Bank, at Gettysburg, E. S. Ormsby, president; J. R. Hugiies, 
cashier. Bank of Forest City, at Forest City, Andrew \V. Smoot, presi- 
dent; B. F. Bullard, cashier." 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Herald. Heaton & AVillis, editors and publishers, Appomattox; Dakota 
Blizzard, G. A. INichols, editor, Copp; The Press. W. S. Ingham, manager, 
Forest City; Herald, King & Kipiinger, editors and publishers, Gettys- 
burg; Union-Index, Arnold & Houtz, editors and publishers, Gettysburg. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Gettysburg, near the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 
700; school- building, valued at Si, 000: baptist church edifice, valued at 



444 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



$2,500; court-house, valued at $5,000; artesian well; flour-mill; business 
nouses; grain warehouses, etc. Gettysburg is the western terminus of the 
Watertown and Faulk ton branch of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad. 
Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, $60,000; personal, $75,000; 
total, $135,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Appomattox, in the west; population, fifty; school-building, valued at 
$800; church organizations; business houses; hotel, etc. Copp, in the 
southeast; school-building, valued at $600; church organizations; general 
store, etc. Forest City, on the Missouri river; population, 150; school- 
building, valued at $1,500; flour-mill, of the capacity of 100 barrels per day; 
packing-house; general stores; hotel, etc. Pembroke, in the north ; popula- 
tion, fifty; school- buildings; church organizations; mill; general store, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (STATISTICS 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, seventeen; school population, 522; 
number of school-houses in district, twenty-five; number of school- houses 
built in 1886, fourteen; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $33.00; 
females, $27.50; value of all school property, $15,000; expended for school 
purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $10,500; cash remaining in 
school treasury June 30, 1886, $1,358.87; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $13,800; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$3,500.^ 










LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 






Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 

1886 
1887 


862 
1,107 
1.295 


81 
117 
119 


1.429 
2.335 
2,838 


159 
210 
457 


324 
705 
722 


8 57,887 
111.418 
128.220 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



29,618 
126 296 
158.013 



$ 234,556 
286,901 
439.852 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Wsonal Prop-| T °l*] n ""eased 
lerty valuation.! J-JX** 



of 



$ 14,852 
16.917 
40,865 



$ 35,206 

208.592 

82.684 



$ 3-12.481 

623,828 

I '691,621 



FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in Bushels in Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Bye 

Buckwheat 

Barlay 

Flax 



none 
400 
60C 
none 
none 
none 
none 



6,300 

28,820 

21,237 

55 

222 

218 



220,000 

200,000 

64,000 

3,600 



40,000 
24.399 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 2,336. Lands improved, 1880, 
forty acres; 1885, 25,540 acres. Number of farms, 1880, one; 1885,940. 
Average size of farms, 1880, forty acres; 1885, twenty-seven acres. Average 
assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.77. County indebtedness, 1887, $20,- 
336. Potato crop, 1885, 10,342 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 791 pounds. 
Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 1,714 gallons; butter, 23,630 
pounds; eggs, 22,622 dozen. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 445 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. 0. Address. 


Auditor 

Treasurer 


Evan F. Gross 

H. T. Meacham 

L. J. Ferris 

T. J. Eales 

F. W. Hurdick 

Ft B Carr.... 


Gettysburg 

Gettysburg 


Sheriff 

Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 


Gettysburg 

Gettysburg 

Gettysburg 


Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 

Coroner 


O. \v. Shoenfeldt 

Helen M. Williams 


Cramer 


A. W. Young 

A. J. Landis 


Gettysburg 

Gettysburg 


Commissioners V 


L M. Bishop 

C. M. Brooks 

J. J. Loveless 


Gettysburg 


Davidson 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


in 1887. 


Appomattox 

Copp 

Cornelion 

Cramer 

Davidson 




i 
....Morrill 


Gettysburg 

Gustine 

Hoven 

Lebanon..... 


.... Pembroke 

....iPotter 

.... Welland 



PRATT COUNTY. 



Created, January 8, 1873, from original territory. Boundaries changed, 
March 9, 1883. Unorganized. 

Pratt county is situated in southern Dakota, within the limits of the 
Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the Sioux reservation 
elsewhere in this publication. 



PRESHO COUNTY. 



Created, January 8, 1873, from original territory. Boundaries changed, 
March 9, 1883. 

Presho is a county of southern Dakota, west of the Missouri river, and 
bounded on the north, in part, by the Missouri river. It lies within the 
boundaries of the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the 
Sioux reservation elsewhere in this publication. 



PYATT COUNTY. 



Created March 8, 1883. 

Pyatt is a county bounded on the north by the 45th degree of latitude, 
and reaching to the Cheyenne river, on the south. It is entirety within 
the boundaries of the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the 
Sioux reservation elsewhere in this publication. 



RAMSEY COUNTY. 



Area, 633,600 acres. Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Pembina, 
Boundaries changed March 9, 1883, parts to Benson and Nelson; changed 
again, 1885, part to Benson, six townships from Cavalier, and tw T o townships 
segregated on the east. Organized, January 25, 1883, by the ap- 
pointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: D. W. 
Ensign, E. V. Barton ; and F. C. Sanders. 

Ramsey county is situated in northeastern Dakota, the second county 
south of the Canada boundary, and midway between the Mouse river on 
the west, and the Red River on the east. The county is covered with in- 
numerable lakes, — nearly 100 square miles of its surface being w r ater. 
Devils La.': —the largest sheet of water in the Territory — having a total 



446 RESOURCES. OF DAKOTA. 

length ofahout forty-five miles — is all within the limits of Ramsey county, 
except the western extremity. Its waters are salt, resembling those of 
the ocean. The lake varies in width from a few hundred yards to several 
miles, and, in places, is a 100 feet or more in depth. Near the central part 
of the county there is a large body of pure and sweet water, covering some 
4,000 acres — and known as Sweet Water lakes. Dry lake is another very 
large sheet of water, situated in the northwestern portion of the county. 
The islands and peninsulas of Devils Lake are covered w T ith timber. 
Surface, generally, rolling prairie, — except a range of low hills from one- 
half mile to a mile in width, extending from the south end of Dry lake al- 
most to the eastern boundary of the county. The- land north of these 
hills is quite level. The Grand Coulee — a long and fertile valley, from, 
ten to forty miles in width, has a length of about twenty miles in Ramsey 
county, extending north from the west end of Devils Lake. Soil, black 
loam, slightly sandy, from one to three feet deep, and overlying a thick 
deposit of clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba rail- 
road, forty miles; stations: Bartlett, Crary, Devils Lake, Grand Harbor, 
Church's Ferry. 

Vacant public lands, 239,200 acres; Devils Lake land district, 45,200 acres; 
Grand Forks land district, 194,000 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are four banks doing business in this countv, as follows: First 
National Bank, at Devils Lake, C. S. Hulbert, president; Geo. Juergens, 
cashier. Merchants' National bank, at Devils Lake, F. R. Fulton, presi- 
dent; E. A. Gowran, cashier. North Shore Bank, at Devils Lake, John 
A. Burnett, cashier. The North Dakota Bank, at Church's Ferry. 

NEWSPAPERS . 

The Sun, S. A. Nye, editor, Church's Ferry; The Inter-Ocean, H. G. 
Hansbrough, editor and publisher, Devils Lake; Devils Lake News, J. F. 
Carruthers, publisher, Devils Lake. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Devils Lake, on a body of water of that name, is the county seat. It has a 
population of 1,500; school-buildings, valued at $5,500; episcopal, presbyter- 
ian, methodist, and catholic church edifices, valued at $7,900; fire depart- 
ment houses; flour-mill, valued at $10,000; artesian well, water- works sys- 
tem, and citv hall projected. Assessed valuation city propertv, 1886, 
real, $211,000; personal, $135,000; total, $346,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Bartlett, in the southeast; population, fifty; school-building, valued at 
$800; catholic church edifice, valued at $1,000; general stores; grain eleva- 
tors, etc. Church's Ferry, in the west; population, 200; school-building, 
valued at $800; methodist church edifice, valued at $1,000. Assessed val- 
uation town property, 1886, real and personal, $61,000. Crary, in the 
southeast; population, seventy-five; school-building; three general stores; 
hotels; grain elevators, etc. Grand Harbor, west of Devils Lake; popula- 
tion, 225; school-building, valued at $1,500; church organizations; business 
houses; hotels; grain elevators, etc. Assessed valuation, town property, 
1S86, real and personal, $70,000. Jerusalem, on the eastern extremity of 
Devils Lake; school-building; church organizations, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, fourteen; school population, 723; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, twenty-six; number of school-houses built 
in 1886, eleven; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $40.50; females, 
$35.00; value of all school property, '$16,000.00; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June, 30, 1886, $17,000.00; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $1,755.37; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June" 30, 1886, $11,500.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$2,390.00. 



Year. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Horses. 



Mules and 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



447 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 

1887 



833 
1.403 
1,973 



112 
133 



1447 
2,255 

3,288 



29 
64 

200 



211 

738 
779 



8 105 232 
207.187 
213.071 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



119.823 
150,152 
193.948 



i $ 542,740 

700,970 

I 884,090 



Town Lots jPersonalProp-i T ^Y ua a t f e u SSe d f 
valuation, lerty valuation. ^!" a A 10U ot 



231,366 | $ 141.575 S 1.020.913 

207,326 238,330 1,353,813 

276,360 323,005 1,696,526 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in Bushels in Bushels in 
1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat.. 
Corn.... 

Oats 

Rye .... 
Barlev.. 
Flax 



none 
none 

60 
none 
none 
none 




735 000 

8.000 

564,000 

270 

42,000 

2,100 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 281; 1885, 3,271. Lands improved 1880, 
fifty acres; 1885,65,830 acres. Number of farms, 1880, one; 1885, 1,252. 
Average size of farms, 1880, fifty acres; 1885, fifty-three acres. Average 
assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $4.56. Countv indebtedness, 1887, 
$33,443. Potato crop, 1885, 34,619 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 145 pounds. 
Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 11.255 gallons; butter, 33,074 
pounds; cheese. 320 pounds; eggs, 4,848 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICB ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk iJohn A. Percival Devils Lake. 

Treasurer |01e Sermgard [Dev Is Lake. 

Sheriff j Ever Wagness 'Devils Lake. 

Clerk District court !T. C. Saunders (Devils Lake. 

Probate Judge |P. J. MeOlory ^Devils Lake. 

Register of Deeds... John A. Percival Devils Lake. 

Attorney . D. E. Morgan Devils Lake. 

Superintendent of Schools J. F. Cowan Devils Lake. 

Surveyor Frank Doty Devils Lake. 

Coroner Chas. T. Zunich [Devils Lake. 

Assessor T. Thorson 'Devils Lake. 

f Chas. A. Currier 

| |Wm. R. Mahood 

Commissioners -I John Barton 

j ;Ed. Lohues 

t James McOormick 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 


Bartlett 


1 

Devils Lake Kildahl... 


Church's Ferry 


Grand Harbor Locke .. 




Jackson IRutten.. 


DeGroat 


Jerusalem (Starkweather 



448 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

RANSOM COUNTY. 

Area, 552,960 acres. Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Pembina. 
Boundaries changed, in 1883, part to Sargent. Organized, March 7, 1881, 
by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, 
viz.: Geo. H. Colton, Gilbert Hanson, and Frank Probert. 

Random county is situated in eastern Dakota, in the second tier of coun- 
ties, north of the 7th standard parallel, and in the second west of the 
Minnesota state line. The principal stream is the Sheyenne, which tra- 
verses the county, in a very tortuous course, entering at the northwest, 
and flowing south and west,' until near the south boundary, when it turns 
northeast, and finally passes across the northeast border, on its way to- 
ward the Red. Bear and Dead Colt creeks, drain the townships of the 
south and west. A curve of the Maple river, waters a single township on 
the northern boundary. A few small lakes, and a number of marshes, 
are scattered throughout the county. The Sheyenne, alongits whole course, 
is bordered by grores of cottonwood, oak, elm, ash, and other varieties of 
native timber. At Lisbon, the river furnishes a good water-power. Sur- 
face, of the southeastern part, generally level, with light, sandy soil; in 
the northeast township the country is shaped into a group of sand-hills, 
covered with a scanty growth of scrub-oak, and with an abundant supply 
of water but a short distance beneath the surface; along the course of 
the Sheyenne runs a picturesque and beautiful valley, sometimes narrow, 
and, in many places, not distinctly defined, owing to the encroachment of 
the prairie. In other places the valley is quite wide, and is bordered by 
lofty bluffs, seamed and furrowed, with deep gulches and ravines. A 
broacT valley, ranging from one-and a half to three miles in width, occu- 
pies a part of the southwestern townships, to the west of which is a 
stony ridge, extending as far north as Bear creek. Soil of the county, 
elsewhere than named, a deep, black loam, with a sub-soil, generally, 
of clay. In portions of the southeast and of the southwest, a sub-soil 
of quicksand is found. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific railway, (Fargo & South- 
western line,) 41.8 miles; stations: Sheldon, Buttzviile, Lisbon, Elliott, 
Marshall. 

Vacant public lands, 13,120 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are three banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank 
of Lisbon, at Lisbon, J. E. Wisner, president; C. B. Wisner, cashier. 
First National Bank, at Lisbon, R. S. Adams, president; H. K. Adams, 
cashier. Bank of Sheldon, at Sheldon. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Star, Chas. E. Johnson, editor and publisher, Lisbon; Ransom 
County Gazette, Aplin & Buckley, editors and publishers, Lisbon; Enter- 
prise, "E. A. Kling. editor and publisher, Sheldon; The Blade, Neelands 
Bros., publishers, Sheldon. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Lisbon, in the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 1,700; 
school-building, valued at $7,000; methodist, presbyterian, baptist, epis- 
copal, and catholic church edifices, valued at $15,000; fire department 
houses; foundrv; flour-mills, etc. Assessed valuation city property, 1887, 
real, $160,000; personal, $122,350; total, $282,350. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Elliott, in the west; population, fifty; school-building, valued at $1,200; 
methodist church edifice, valued at $o00; grain elevators; general stores, 
etc. Plymouth, northwest of Lisbon; population, fifty; school-building; 
flour-mill; general stores, etc. Sheldon, in the northeast; population, 400; 
school-building, valued at $2,000; presbyterian, and catholic church edi- 
fices, valued at $3,000. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and 
personal, $70,000. 






RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



449 



SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, seventeen; school population, 794; 
number of schooi-houses in district, thirty-two; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, one; average monthly pay oi teachers, males, 139.67; females, 
$33.81; value of all school property, 129,203.62; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 1886. $19,732.63; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $3>52.43; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886. $10,500; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$3,799.02. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. J Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 1,567 

1886 | 2,066 

1887 j 2.752 


150 2,611 
160 I 3,267 
166 i 3 814 


434 1,158 $ 136 963 
444 1 1,532 j 198,302 
878 1,173 1 225.890 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Esttite. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Pprqnrm! PrrmJ T °tal assessed 

rersonai ±-rop-i ™ lnatl - ft . n1 



erty valuation. 



valuation 
county. 



of 



1885 
1886 



281.095 
289,721 
883,180 



! S 1,088.795 
I 1.219i 984 
i 1,783,104 



$ 145,183 
159.323 
186.639 



151.315 
170,721 
328 920 



$ 1,522,206 
1,748,330 
2,524,553 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in Bushels in 

1885. 1887. 



Wheat 


8,060 
1.375 
4,290 
none 
none 
1,520 
none 


831,837 

43,052 

568,903 

427 

'2,904 

57,368 


669 084 




28,527 


Oats 


415,889 


Rye . 


1,000 
50 




Barley 

Flax 


13.515 
1,260 









M 1 SCELL A NEOUS STATISTICS . 

Population" of county, 1880, 537; 1835, 4,238. Lands improved, 1880, 702 
acres; 1885, 109,003 acres. Number of farms, 1880, thirty- two; 1885, 1,076. 
Average size of farms, 1880, twenty-two acres; 1885, 101 acres. Average 
assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $4.65. Potato crop, 1885, 101,115 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 707 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: butter, 
181,505 pounds; cheese, 350 pounds; eggs, 36,809 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor R. M. Davis 'Lisbon 

Treasurer A. C. Kvello [Lisbon 

Sheriff T. N. Quinu I Lisbon 

Clerk District Court Ulyses Hertig Lisbon 

Probate Judge F. P. Allen Lisbon 

Register of Deeds R. M. Davis Lisbon 

Attorney I P. H. Kourke iLisbon 

Superintendent of Schools |F. W. Grange 'Lisbon 

Purveyor M. E. Severance Lisbon 

Coroner A. B. Herrick ....: Lisbon 

Assessor John H. Oerding Ft. Ransom 

( jM. L. Engle, (chairman) 

JA. D. Luca? 

Commissioners i Haul B. Rains 

j James Anderson 'Sheldon 

I lA. H. Berland iFt. Ransom. 



(15) 



450 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIST OF POSTOFPICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 





Fort Ransom 


Scovill 




Lisbon 






Owego 




Elliott 


Plymouth 











RENVILLE COUNTY. 

Created, January 4, 1873, from parts of Deuel and Pembina. Bound- 
aries changed, 1883, part to Wynn; changed again, March 11, 1887, part 
from Wynn. Unorganized. 

Renville is a county of northwestern Dakota, bounded on the north by 
the International boundary, and the fourth county east of the Montana 
line. Principal stream is the Mouse river, which flows through the 
county from north to south, its entire length. Renville county is in the 
rich agricultural and grazing districts of the famous Mouse river valley. 

Vacant public lands, 1,044,480 acres. 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, thirty-one. Lands improved, 1885, 
1,282 acres. Number of farms, 1885, nine. Average size of farms, 1885, 
142 acres. 

RICHLAND COUNTY. 

Area, 847,360 acres. Created, January 4, 1873, from original territory. 
Boundaries changed, March 8, 1883, part to Roberts; changed again, March 
9, 1885, from part of Roberts. Organized, in 1873, by the appointment, by 
the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: J. W. Blanding, D. 
Wilmot Smith, M. T. Rich. 

Richland is a county of the Red River valley, situated on the Minnesota 
state line, just north of the 7th standard parallel. Principal streams, 
are the Red and the Bois de Sioux rivers, which form the eastern bound- 
ary of the county. The Wild Rice river enters the county from the west, 
and makes a wide curve to the southeast, flowing out at the northeast 
corner, traversing about two-thirds of the length, and five-sixths of the 
breadth of the county. The Sheyenne river flows through the north- 
western townships. There are upwards of fifty small lakes and ponds 
scattered over the face of Richland county, the largest of which are Swan, 
Elk, Dry Slough, Taylor, Twin, Elm, Star, and Moran lakes, and Lake 
Willard, situated in the southwestern townships. Scattered groves of 
native timber fringe the banks of^he various streams of the county. 
Surface, of the eastern part, a level plain, undulating gently toward the 
west, until it terminates in the sand hills, which lie along the western 
part. Soil, light clay, mixed with black sand, fine, black sediment, and 
decomposed vegetable matter. In many places, if the surface was re- 
moved to a depth of twenty feet, the new surface would be as productive 
as the old. Sub-soil, of the county, is unmistakably a drift deposit. The 
Lake Traverse Indian reservation occupies a part of the southern tier of 
townships. 

Miles of railroad in county : Northern Pacific railway, (Northern Pacific, 
Fergus & Black Hills line,) thirty-two miles; stations: Wahpeton, Farm- 
ington, Mooreton, Barney, Wyndmere. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
railway, (Fargo Southern line,) fifty-one miles; stations: Fairmount, Tyler, 
Wahpeton, Abercrombie, Christine, Sewall, Kongsberg. St. Paul, Min- 
neapolis & Manitoba railway, (Wahpeton & Ripon line,) thirty -three 
miles; stations: Walcott, Colfax, D wight, Wahpeton; (main line,) thirty- 
four miles; stations: Fairmount, Sonora, Hankmson, Stiles, Lidgerwood. 
Total, sixty*eeven miles. Minneapolis & Pacific railway, (mam line,) 
thirty-four miles ; stations: Hankinson, Belmont, Fairmount. Total miles 
of railroad in county, 184. 

Vacant public lands, 20,040 acres; Watertown land district, 6,400 acres; 
Fargo land district, 13,640 acres. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



451 



There are four banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Wahpeton, at Wahpeton, W. J. Van Derveer, president. Farmers' and 
Merchants' Bank, at Wahpeton, C. B. Pinney, president; R. B. Carson, 
cashier. Northwestern Bank, at Wahpeton, T. W. Kellog, president; W. 
A. White, cashier. People's Savings Bank, at Wahpeton, T. L. French, 
president; C. N. Wood, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Richland County Gazette, E. K. Morrill, editor and publisher, Wahpe- 
ton; Dakota Globe, Falley & Fritz, proprietors, Wahpeton; Times, Geo. 
P. Garred, editor and publisher, Wahpeton; Mercury, Greig & Glasier, 
editors and publishers, Wahpeton; Herald, F. J. Smith, editor, Fair- 
mount; Fort Abercrombie Scout, F. J. Smith, publisher and editor, Fort 
Abercrombie. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Wahpeton, on the Red River of the North, is the county seat. It has a 
population of 2,100; three school-buildings, valued at $20,000; methodist, 
baptist, congregational, episcopal, and two catholic church edifices, val- 
ued at $28,000; court-house and jail, valued at $15,000; city hall and fire 
department houses; water- works system, valued at $72,000; flour-mill; 
brewerv, etc. Assessed valuation city property, 1886, real, $352,662; per- 
sonal, $230,417 ; total, $583,079. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Colfax, in the north; population, 150; school-building, valued at $1,300; 
artesian wells; flour-mill, valued at $12,000; grain elevators; business 
houses; hotel, etc. Dwight, northwest of Wahpeton; population, fifty; 
school-building; lutheran church edifice, valued at $1,500; city jail; arte- 
sian wells; grain elevators; general stores; hotel, etc. Fairmoui.t, in the 
southeast; population, 250; school- building, valued at $700; church edifice, 
valued at $1,500; gram elevators; business houses; hotels, etc. Assessed 
valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $50,000. Fort Abercrom- 
bie, on the Red River, north of Wahpeton; population, 200; school-build- 
ing, valued at $600; congregational church edifice, valued at $1,500; busi- 
ness houses; hotels, etc. Hankinson, in the south; population, 160; school- 
building, valued at $1,000; congregational church edifice, valued at $2,000; 
artesian well; grain elevators; business houses; hotels, etc. Lidgerwood, 
in the southwest; population, 150; school- building, valued at $800; catho- 
lic church edifice; grain elevators; business houses; hotels, etc. Walcott, 
in the north; population, 100; school- building, valued at $1,000; artesian 
well, etc. Wyndmere, in the west; population, 100; school-building; busi- 
ness houses; hotels, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized tdwnships, twenty-four; school population, 2,271; 
number of school-houses in district, eighty-six; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, nine; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $38.72; 
females, $33.51; value of all school property, $58,402; expended for school 
purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $41,661.20; cash remaining 
in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $11,001.53; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30,1886, $19,100; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$4,768.42. 







LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 






Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and| f . ul 
Asses. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 
1885 
1886 

1887 


606 
4.127 
4,359 
4,983 


47 1 762 183 


360 
2,554 
3,034 
2,801 


* 


346 7,230 
587 8,370 
652 I 10,277 


1,353 
2,109 
1.861 


$ 369,466 
490,705 
495,492 



452 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Acres Real 
Estate. 


Valuation. 


Town Lots 
valuation 


Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 


Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 


1880 




9 782,152 
2.066,247 
2,676,880 
2.812,307 


1 


* S 315,656 
452.979 
504,552 
554,025 


9 1,097 808 


1885 
1886 
1887 


589.236 
611,876 
649.275 


I $ 351,956 
363.427 
444^27 


3,240.648 
4,035.564 
4.306,451 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880 
1885, and 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat. 

Barley 

Flax 



Bushels in 


Bushels in 


Bushels in 


1880. 


1885. 


1887. 


184,753 


1,510 015 


1,161,996 


845 


19.486 


82 500 


63,243 


798,635 


1,038,653 


none 


2,448 


2 000 


none 


521 


1,500 


15,330 


41,894 


95,826 


none 





15,024 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880,3,597; 1885, 9,043. Lands improved, 1880, 
14,743 acres; 1885, 144,862 acres. ( Number of farms, 1880, 265; 1885, 1,418. 
Average size of farms, 1880, fifty-six acres; 1885, 102 acres. Average as- 
sessed valuation per acre, 1887, $4.33. Potato crop, 1885, 88 : 962 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 7,331 pounds, Dairy and other farm products 1885: milk, 
3,055 gallons; butter, 223,525 pounds; cheese, 6,873 pounds; eggs, 158,619 
dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFPICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor 

Treasurer 

Sheriff. 

Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools < 

Surveyor 

Coroner 



Commissioners. 



A. E. Sunderhauf 

Ole K. Ulsaker 

J. H. Miller 

J. W. Cope 

J. R. Buxton 

J. M. Rusrfflea. 

R. H. Snyder 

Wm. M. House 

J. W. Blinding 

('has. Wiensma 

Peter S. Larson 

B. Bakken 

Fritz Wessel 

John McMillan, (chairman). 
Theo. Doerr 



Wahpeton 

Wahpeton 

Wahpeton 

Wahpeton 

Wahpeton 

Wahpeton 

Wahpeton 

Wahpeton 

Wahpeton 

Wahpeton 

Abercrombie. 

Kongsberg 

Farmington... 

Stiles 

! Wahpeton .... 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887 



Barrie 

Christine 

Colfax 

Dwight 

Fairmount... 
Farmington. 



Fort Abercrombie |Tower 

Hankinson Wahpeton 



Kloeppel 

Kongsberg... 
Lidgerwood 
Mooreton 



Walcott 

Wyndmere. 



RINEHAKT COUNTY. 



Created March 9, 1883. 

Rinehart county is situated in western Dakota, and north of the 
45th degree ot lititude. It is within the boundaries of the Great Sioux 
Indian reservation. See article on the »-ioux reservation elsewhere. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 453 

ROBERTS COUNTY. 



Area, 800,000 acres. Created, March 8, 1883, from parts of Grant and 
Richland. Boundaries changed, February 2, 1885 ? parts to Grant and 
Richland. Organized, August 1, 1883, by the appointment, by the Gov- 
ernor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Charles Cressy," Fred W. 
Dittes, and R. R. Hall. 

Roberts county is situated in eastern Dakota, on the Minnesota state 
line immediately south of the 7th standard parallel. The Minnesota 
riyer and the north branch of Whetstone creek, are the principal streams 
of the county. The county boundary on the east runs through the center 
of lakes Traverse and Big Stone, for a distance of fifty miles. Both of the 
lakes named have an extraordinary length, as compared with their width 
— and are navigable for steamers of considerable size. Lake Traverse is 
the virtual head of the Red River of the North, and Big Stone is the source 
of the Minnesota, or St. Peters river. A number of other lakes, ponds, 
and marshes dot the surface of Roberts county. The largest of these in- 
terior sheets of water are, Dry Wood lake on the western boundary, and 
Bull Head lake, a few miles west of Big Stone. Surface, of the west- 
ern portion, the hilly elevations of the Coteau region; of the country be- 
tween the Coteaus, and the eastern boundary, gently rolling prairie and 
fine agricultural lands. Soil, of the prairies, a deep, black loam, enriched 
by a considerable admixture of lime. All of Roberts county, except 
about six townships in the southeast, and a few sections in the northeast, 
is contained within the boundaries of the Lake Traverse, or Sisseton and 
Wahpeton Indian reservation. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, (main 
line,) twelve miles; stations: Summit, Sand Cut; (Whetstone branch,) 
twenty-three miles; station: Wilmot. Total, thirty-five miles; Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, (Fargo Southern line,) one mile; station: 
White Rock. Total miles of railroad in county, thirty-six. 

Vacant public lands, 2,230 acres. 

BANKS. 

There is one bank doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Wilmot, at Wilmot, Win. M. Sargent, president; W. J. Speer, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Dakota Sun, San Publishing Company, publishers, Travare; Roberts 
County Record, W. G. Ashton, publisher, Wilmot. Reporter, Fuller & 
Perkins, publishers, Wilmot. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Wilmot, in the south, is the county seat. It has a population of 300; 
school-buikling, valued at $1,800; methodistand presbyterian church edi- 
fices, valued at $5,000; court-house and jail, valued at $4,500. Assessed 
valuation town property, 1886, real, $35,000; personal, $30,000; total, 
$65,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Corona, in the south; population, thirty; school-building, valued at $500; 
grain elevator; business houses, etc, Geneva, on Big Stone lake; popula- 
tion, fifty; school-building, valued at $1,000; grain elevator; hotels; busi- 
ness houses, etc. Travare, north of Wilmot; population, seventy-five; 
school-building, valued at $500; flour-mill, valued at $10,000; general stores, 
etc. White Rock, in the northeast; population fifty; school-building, 
valued at $800; grain elevators; general stores; hotels, etc. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, six; school population, 591; number of 
school-houses in district, twenty one ; number of school-houses built in 1886, 
six; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $28.43; females, $24.26; value 
of all school property, $11,565.00; expended for school purposes during 
year ending June 30, 1886, $11,012.09; ca^h remaining in school treasury, 
June 30, 1886, $1,351.62; par amount of school bonds outstanding June 30, 
1886, $11,750.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight per cent.; 
amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $2,717.13. 



454 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 









LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 








Year. 


i Horses. 


| Mules andj 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


909 
1.058 
1,077 


36 
38 
85 


1 


1,905 
2,270 
2,461 


432 
534 
622 


692 
686 
534 


8 72,378 

~; L . 82,054 
: 85, 037 





VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Town Lots Personal Prop- T °}*} assessed 
valuation, erty valuation, comity 



1885 



51647 

75,395 

106,870 



$ 192.621 
257 410 
340,089 



9 22.988 
27,650 
33 692 



8 50,669 
72,109 
52,660 



$ 338 656 
439.223 
511.478 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for vears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


250.142 

22,765 

114,374 

350 

195 

11,205 


110,250 
34,450 
74,750 


none 
none 


10.440J 
3,000 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat. 

Barlev.T 

Flax 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 2,154. Lands improved, 1885, 
29,430 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 454. Average size of farms, 1885, 
sixty-five acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.18. 
County indebtedness, 1887, £23,172. Potato crop, 1885, 18,307 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 2,058 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
butter, 67,737 pounds; cheese, 375 pounds; eggs, 44,398 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFPiCE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk 


D. Eastman ^ 

Wm. McKusick 

M. W. Gorman 


Wilmoi 


Treasurer 

Sheriff 


Wilmot 


Clerk District Court 


W. G. Ashton 


Wilmot . 


Probate Judge 


F. A. Countrjman 


Wilniot 


Register of Deeds 


D. Eastman 


Wilmot 


Attornev 


Geo. E. Mattioe 


Wilmot 


Superintendent of Schools 


E. S. Ireland 

D. M. White 


Wilmot 


Surveyor 

Coroner 

f 


Wilmot .. 


J. H. Whitford 

E. G Merriam, (chairman) 

Jacob Webb 

Moses Mireau 


vVilmot 

Travare 


Commissioners -< 


Wilmot 

Geneva 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 




Corona 


jOsceola Travare 




Geneva 


|Sisseton Agency 1 White Rock..... 




Lockwood, 


iStaveley Wilmot 





ROLETTE COUNTY 



Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Buffalo. Boundaries changed, 
March 8, 1883, part to Towner; changed again, March 11, 1887. Organized, 
November 6, 1885, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



455 



commissioners, viz.: James Malloy, Jasper Fearnot, and Arthur Foussard. 

Rolette county is situated in north Dakota, on the International bound- 
ary line, east of the Souris, or Mouse river. The only important stream 
of the county is the Willow river. Numerous lakes, ponds, and springs in 
the Turtle Mountains of the north, and elsewhere in the county, furnish 
a good supply of water. In the north, covering the Turtle Mountains, 
there is a considerable growth of native timber, consisting of oak, ash, elm, 
cherry, birch, and other varieties. Coal is found in these mountains, and 
an excellent quality of building- stone. The Turtle Mountains, the most 
noticeable surface feature of the county, is a range of hills about forty 
miles long by twenty miles broad, lying two-thirds in Dakota and the 
other third in Canada. The mountains on the Dakota side of the 
International boundary line, are contained within the noithern limits 
of Bottineau and Rolette counties. They rise to an elevation 
of a few hundred feet above the surrounding prairie, and are surmounted 
by one or two peaks of somewhat greater altitude. The south side of the 
mountains descends in gentle rolls, and is covered w T ith excellent pastur- 
age . Numerous small streams, fed by springs, flow down the gorges of 
the hills. Surface, of the county, irom its southern boundary to the Tur- 
tle Mountains, a gently rolling prairie. Soil, black, rich loam, 
reaching to a depth of several feet. Sub-soil, clay. Brick clay, potters' 
clay, and limestone abound. 

Vacant public lands, 249.600 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Herald, C. I. F. Wagner, publisher, Dunseith; Turtle Mountain Times, 
B. W. Lair, editor and publisher, Dunseith; Journal, H. D. Wilcox, pub- 
lisher, St. Johns. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

St. Johns, in the northeast, is the county seat. It has a population of 
150; school-building, valued at $1,500; catholic church edifice, valued at 
$2,500; court-house; saw-mill; business houses; hotels, etc. 
Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real, $8,000; personal, $20,000; 
total, $28,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Dunseith, w r est of the center; population, 150; school-building, 
valued at $1,300; flour-mill, valued at $5, 000; saw-mill; brewery; pottery; 
business houses; hotels, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, 
real and personal, $13,000. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, five; school population, 342; number of 
school-houses in district, five; number of school-houses built in 1886, five; 
average monthly pay of teachers, males, $33.33; females, $25.50; value of all 
school property, $3,583.15; expended for school purposes during year 
ending June 30,1886, $4,671.11; cash remaining in school treasury, June 
30, 1886, $3,808.22; par amount of school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$6,576; average rate of interest paid on bonds, eight per cent.; amount of 
school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $1,549.95. 









LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 






Year. 


Horses. 


Mules 

Asses 


and 

• 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


412 
685 
731 


17 
10 
30 


•i 


842 
1,206 
1,504 


1 

14 

11 
47 


276 
402 
465 


$ 41,050 
83,179 
96 348 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



^ar. AC ^ a f e eal Valuation. 


Town fcots Personal Prop- 
valuation, erty valuation. 


Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


2,925 $ 6,368 

9,133 34,509 

27,122 91,453 


9 12,577 
18,866 
38,215 


* 35,815 
76,812 
78,061 • 


8 95,810 
213,365 
304,077 



456 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for rears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in I 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 


none 

none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


6,957 

10 

16,792 

4,195 


132,000 

2,280 

229,130 






255 




31,500 
400 


Flax 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885,2,232. Lands improved, 1885, 
5,424 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 414. Average size of farms, 1885, 
thirteen acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.37. County 
indebtedness, 1887, $16,057. Potato crop, 1885, 11,731 bushels. Wool clip, 
1885, twenty-five pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: butter, 
4,400 pounds; cheese, forty-five pounds; eggs, 2,775 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. O. Address. 


Auditor 


C. J. Partridge 

Thos. Heske h 

Thos. C. Flvnii 

F. F. Phillips 

M< ses Labountj' 

'. R. Lvman 


St. Johns 


Sheriff... 

Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 


Dunseith 

St. Johns 

St. Johns 


Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools... 


T. T. Tillotson 


St. John>J 


John E. Brown 

(lustave Deschents 


St. Johns 

Dunseith 


Coroner 


Stephen Ho\vnrd... , 

Ole E. Peterson 

John Cain, (chairman) 

Patrick Forrest 

Alfred Nattrass 


Dunseith 

Dunseith 


Commissioners < 


St. Johns 

Dunseith 







LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Benoit Hurricane Lake Saint Johns. 

Boydton Island Lake .-~ ; 

Dunseith ! La ureal | 



SANBORN COUNTY. 



Area, 368,640 acres. Created, March 9, 1883, from parts of Aurora and 
Miner. Organized June 23, 1883, by the appointment, by the Governor, 
of the following commissioners, viz.: Hiram Roder, John Tannehill, and 
Samuel J. Mitchell. 

Sanborn, a James river valley couniy, is situated in southern Dakota, 
on the 44th degree of latitude, and about midway between the Missouri 
river on the west, and the Big Sioux river on the east. Principal stream 
is the James river, which flows in a southerly direction through the 
center of the county. This river with its affluents, Redstone, Silver, and 
other creeks, afford ample drainage facilities. Long lake, a marshy body 
of water about nine miles in length, by from one half-mile to two miles in 
width, is a noted feature of the county. It lies a few miles southeast of 
Woonsocket. Surface, generally, a gently rolling prairie. Numerous 
lake beds are found, here and there. The bluffs along the James are high, 
and add much to the beauty of the country. The distance between the 
bluffs on each side of this stream is, in some places, considerable — afford- 
ing a laree area of extremely fertile bottom lands. Soil, chiefly, a black 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 457 

vegetable mold, though in some places, it is of a more sandy nature. 
It averages from eighteen inches to two feet in depth, and is underlayed 
throughout by a clay sub-soil. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(James River line,) twenty miles; stations: Woonsocket, Letcher; (main 
line,) twenty-three miles"; stations: Artesian City, Forestburgh, Woon- 
socket. Total, forty-three miles. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are five banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Diana, at Artesian City, W. G. Williams, president; E. H. May, cashier. 
Cameron Bios'. Bank* at Artesian City, J. B. Cameron, cashier. Sanborn 
County *Bank, at Woonsocket, Geo. W. Corkings. president; Leon L Stev- 
ens, cashier. Citizens' Bank, at Woonsocket, E. S. Rowley, president; 
W. M. Sheldon, cashier. Bank of Woonsocket, at Woonsocket, Ed. L. 
Baker, president; Chas. E. Hinds, cashier. 

newspapers. 

The Blade. H. E. Mayhew editor, Letcher; Times, Kanouse & Folsom, 
publishers, Woonsocket; News, Frank Kelley, publisher, Woonsocket; 
Dakota Immigration Journal, Frank Kelley, editor, L. F. Shaffer, mana- 
ger, AVoonsocket; The Advocate, H. S. Douglas, editor, Artesian City. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Woonsocket. in the west, is the county seat. It has a population of 900; 
school-building, valued at $12,000; presbyterian, methodist, episcopal, 
united presbyterian and catholi .lurch edifices, valued at $10, 000; pub- 
lic buildings, valued at $3,500; flour-mill, valued at $30,000; creamery; 
brick-yards; wagon and carriage factory; furniture factory; pork packing 
establishment. Assessed valuation city property, 1S87, real, $120,000; per- 
gonal, $58,000; total, $184. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Artesian City, in the east: population, 400; school-buildings, valued at 
$1,500; methodist and presbyterian church edifices, valued at $5,000; 
water- works (artesian) system; flour-mill, etc. Assessed valuation town 
property, 1886 re«! and personal, $90,000. The place derives its name 
from the number of artesian wells, flowing in the vicinity. Forest- 
hurgh, on the James river; population, 150; presbyterian church 
edifice, valued at $2,000; school- building, valued at $1,560; business houses; 
hotels, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1880, real and personal, 
$20,000. Letcher, in the southwest; population, 100; school-building, 
valued at $1,500; congregational church edifice; artesian well; feed-mill, 
genera] stores; grain ware-houses, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 
1886, real and personal, $46,000. 

SCHOOLS, (STATISTICS 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, sixteen; school population, 1,029; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, fifty-six; number of school- houses built 
in 1886, ten; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $28.37; females, 
$27.30; value of all school property, $41,470.77; expended for school pur- 
poses, during the year ending June 30, 1886, $22,564.95; cash remaining 
m school treasury, June 30, 1886, $1,353.76; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding, June 30, 1886, $39,400 00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$6,835.30. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTCS. 



Year. I Horsed. Mu j!La and , Cattle. Sheep. Swine, j Valuation. 



Asses. 



1885 1.783 133 3,978 1.467 2.227 I $ 175.331 

1886 2.131 126 4.748 957 1638 136.241 

1887 2,458 96 i 6.121 i 1,974 i 1.949 162.143 



458 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



[Personal Prop- 1' 1 '^; 1 , 1 ,.. 

erty valuation. ™!™ l v lon of 



1885 
1886 
1887 



142,500 
158.983 
185.319 



$ 580,680 
569,042 
678.937 



$ 132,136 
140,966 
123,767 



$ 136,952 

171.945 

95,865 



$ 1,025,099 
1,018,194 
1,060,712 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in countv, for vears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



! Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 


! none 

none 


120,127 

131,512 

198.897 

381 

1,402 

7,063 


372,720 
649.600 
357 840 


Rye 

Buckwheat 

Barley 

Flax 


i none 

| none 

none 

< none 


15,000 

3,000 

74,700 

85,260 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 4,106. Lands improved, 1885, 
45,300 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 752. Average size of farms, 1885, 
sixty acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.66. County 
indebtedness, 1887, $12,114. Potato crop, 1885, 34,784 bushels. Wool clip, 
1885, 5,869 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 3,050 gal- 
lons; butter, 88,084 pounds; eggs, 42,364 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFPICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



.Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk Ij. M Kintner 

Treasurer jChas. C Hayes.... 

Sheriff W. N. Sevev 

Clerk District Court 'David S. Dunk el. 



Woonsocket.... 
Woonsocket.... 
Woonsocket.... 
Woonsocket.... 

R. M. Church (Artesian City.. 

J. M. Kintner Woonsocket.... 

John E. Whiting ^ Artesian City.. 

H. A. Mose« Woonsocket.... 

Surveyor jA. McGillvray Forestburgh ... 

Coroner A. V. Bonesteel Forestburgh. .. 

Assessor J. E. Olson |Brisbiue 

f Wra. H. McKeel, (chairman) 'Artesian City.. 

I jGib. Dziewanowski Woonsocket.... 

Commissioners 1 >01e J. Norarn Artesian City.. 

Geo. Brodrick Letcher 

iJ. Rubenda 1 lArtesian Citv. 



Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds.. 

Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools.. 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 




Callihan * 

Cornell 


Forestburgh 




Ambov 


Farns worth 




Brisbine 


Farvvell 


Woonsocket 



SARGENT CONNTY. 



Area, 552,980 acres. Created March 3, 1883. Boundaries changed, 
March 8, 1883, part to Hyde. Organized, August 1, 1883, by the appoint- 
ment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz. : John R. 
Herring, C. C. Newman, and B. G. Haskell. 

Sargent is a county of eastern Dakota,, north of the 7th standard par- 
allel, and the second west of the Minnesota state line. The principal 



RESOUKCES OF DAKOTA. 459 

stream of the county, is the Wdd Rice river, which heads in the southeast 
portion around the swell of land of which Airy M )und is the highest ele- 
vation, and flow-* northeast into Richland county. Sargent courity has 
within its bDrders, m my lake-?, pm U, and marshes. The largest sheets 
of water, are lake Tewaukon on the n >rthern edge of the Indian reserva- 
tion, which covers about 1,000 acres, and lake Kandiotta, about ten miles 
northwest, covering some 500 acres. Both are beautiful and picturesque in 
their surroundings. Near Milnor, are four or five lakes with areas vary- 
ing from 160 to 400 acres each. In the northwest are two extensive but 
somewhat marshy lakes — one known as lake Dill. At other points, par- 
ticularly in the central and eastern portions, there are many smaller 
•bodies of water. Surface, of the mijor part of Sargent county, is gently 
rolling prairie, with large tracts of level land. The hilly region surround- 
ing Airy Mound in the southeast, covers an area nearly equal to a 
congressional township. The lower course of the Wild Rice river is con- 
siderably broken by bluffs and ravines. Around the lakes, near the town 
of Milnor, the surface is somewhat broken, as also are some of the town- 
ships of the southwest. The Whitestone hills extend into a township of 
the same name on the northern boundary, and near the center of the 
county are two or three isolated mounds or but'es, rising to a considerable 
elevation above the prairie. The banks of the Wild Rice river are fringed 
in many places, with groves of native timber, and a group of sand hills in 
the northeast corner of the countv, is covered with a growth of small 
trees. Soil, of the prairie, a deep, black loam, underlaid with a 
sub-soil of clay. About ninety square miles in the southeast part of the 
county, lies within the boundaries of the Lake Traverse, or Sisseton and 
Wahpeton Indian reservation. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific railway, (Northern Paci- 
fic, Fergus & Black Hills line,) 10. 1 miles; stations: Milnor, DeLamere. 
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway. (Andover line,) seventeen miles; 
stations: Sargent, Forman, Harlem. St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba 
railway, (Ellendale extension.) thirty-six miles; stations: Geneseo, Sene- 
ca, Rutland, Belle Plain, Brooklane, StraubviJle; (Aberdeen- Rutland ex- 
tension,) nine miles; stations: Rutland, Sprague Lake, Webber. Total 
forty-five miles. Minneapolis & Pacific railway, (main line,) thirty-six 
miles; stations: Ransom, Forman, Nicholson. Total miles of railroad in 
county, 108.1. 

Vacant public lands, 10,340 acres; Watertown land district 4,820 acres; 
Fargo land district, 5,520 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are two banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Sargent County, at Milnor, D. F. Vail, president; F. W. Vail, cashier. 
Bank of Forman, at Forman, L. V. Babcock, manager. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Item, A. H. Ellsworth, editor, D. F. Ellsworth & Son, publishers, 
Forman; Sargent County Teller. Moore Bros., publishers, Milnor; Rustler, 
J. F. Rowins, editor, Sargent. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Forman, west of the center, is the county seat. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Harlem, north of Forman; schools; church organizations; grain eleva- 
tors; business houses; hotels, etc. Milnor, in the north; population, 500; 
school-building, valued at $2,200; presbyterian, methodist, and lutheran 
church edifices, valued at $0, 000; grain elevators and ware-houses; tele- 
phone; flour-mill, projected. Assessed valuation city property. 1886, real 
and personal, $133,067. Rutland, southeast of the center; population, 250; 
school-building, valued af $1»500; church organizations; artesian well, 
valued at $1,500; grain elevators; business houses; hotels, etc. Ransom, in 
the east; population, 100; school-building, valued at $1,000; church organi- 
zations; business houses; grain elevators, etc. Sargent, south of Forman; 
population, seventy-five; school- building; church organizations; grain ele- 
vators; business houses; hotels, etc. 



460 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, sixteen; school population, 822; 
number of school- houses in district, thirty-three; number of school- 
houses built in 1886, seven; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $35.37; 
females, $31.35; value of all school property, $32,222.00; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $11,827.24; cash remain- 
ing in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $2,218.37; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30, 1886, $29,650.00; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $3,181.34. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


1 

Horses. 


I Mules and 

Asses. 


Cattle. Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 

1886 
1887 


1,020 

1,364 

|- 1,883 


1 139 
168 
154 


1 
1,972 | 122 
2,586 358 
3,180 | 445 


361 
792 
869 


8 121,021 
159,833 

195,880 


VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



185,885 
206,101 
246,006 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



« 747,157 
743,125 
962,007 



$ 87,687 
79,370 
96,757 



Pers onal Prop-I^/"** 8 e ft d , 



$ 87.399 
108 320 
170.256 



$ 1,043.264 
1.090,648 
1.424,900 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



: Bushels in 
, 1880. 


Bushels in 
lfc85. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 

Corn 


| none 

; none 


244 024 
6,155 

161.181 
2,980 
1.334 
1,218 


765,000 
12 000 


Oats 

Rve 

Buckwheat 

Barley 

Flax 


none 

none 

! noue 

j none 

1 none 


■ 800 000 

4,375 

1,500 

51.800 

7.500 









MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885,3,234; Lands improved, 1885, 
47,419 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 1,029. Average size of farms, 1885, 
forty-six acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.91 
County indebtedness, 1887, $15,063. Potato crop, 1885, 29,652 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 576 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: but- 
ter, 494,020 pounds; eggs, 31,419 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. O. Address. 

1 


Auditor 


Chas. Afdem 




Treasurer 






Sheriff 

Clerk District Court 


F. G. Bartlett 

John VV r . Christian 


Milnor 

Forman 


Probate Judge 


A. Wells 




Register of Deeds 


A. F. Price 




Attorney 






Superintendent of Schools 


S. A. Danford 




Surveyor 


H. A Soule 


Brampton 


Coroner 


J. G. Ecker 


Assessor 

r 


Ole F.Johnson 

T. W. Nicholson (chairman) 


Milnor 






Commissioners -j 


E. W. Barton 




I 


Z. O. Patten 




Randolph Holdiug 


Ransom 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA . 461 

' LIST OF POSTOF FICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 

Brampton 'Hamlin i Ransom 

Cayuga Harlem Ripley 

DeLamere Havana Rutland 

Dunbar Kanrliotta Sargent 

Fosman Milnor Teuaukon 

Geneseo Nicholson Veruer 



SCHNASSE COUNTY. 



Created March 9, 1883. 

Schnasse is a county of central Dakota, west of the Missouri river and 
south of the Cannon Bali river. It is entirely within the boundaries of 
the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the Sioux reservation 
elsewhere in this publication. 

SCOBEY COUNTY. 

Created March 8, 1883. 

Scobey county is situated in southwestern Dakota, between the 44th 
and 45th degrees of latitude, and is entirely within the boundaries of the 
Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the Sioux reservation 
elsewhere in this publication. 



SHANNON COUNTY. 



Created, January 11, 1875. from original territory. 

Shannon county' is situa'ed in the southwestern part of the Territory, 
on the Nebraska boundary line, and lies entirely within the boundaries 
of the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the Sioux reserva- 
tion elsewhere in this publication. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 
Pine Ridge Agency | Wo nded Knee 



SHERIDAN COUNTY 



Created, January 4, 1873, from part of Buffalo. Boundaries changed ia 
1883, part to McLean; changed again March 11, 1887. Unorganized. 

Sheridan county is situated in the central part of northern Dakota. 
There are no streams of any considerable size in this county. 
Numerous lakes in the western part, and the many lakes, ponds and 
springs of the Coteaus, furnish an ample supply of excellent water. Sur- 
face, undulating prairie, and broken and hilly elevations of the Plateau 
du Coteau du Missouri, which traverse the county, diagonally, from the 
center of the northern boundary to the southeast corner. The surface 
formations, the rich quality of the soil, producing, as it does, the finest of 
natural grasses, and the many springs and sheltered nooks of the Coteaus, 
make the lands of Sheridan county especially desirable for farming and 
stock-raising purposes. 

Vacant public lands. 348,100 acres. 

Population of county, 1880, none: 1885, forty. 



SPINK COUNTY 



Area, 907,680 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Hanson. 
Boundaries changed February 22, 1879. Organized July 22, 1879, by the 
appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: 
James B. Churchill, Geo. M. Bowman, and Charles Foster. 

Spink, a James river valle)' county, is situated in southern Dakota, on 
the 45th degree of latitude, midway between the Missouri river, on the 
west, and the Minnesota state line, on the east. Principal streams are the 
James river, which flows through the county from north to south; the 



462 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

Turtle river, flowing from the southwest; Snake creek, from the north- 
west, and Timber creek, which drains the eastern townships into the 
James river. Two or three smaller streams flow into the James, thorough- 
ly draining all portions of Spink county. The county has within its boun- 
daries a number of small lakes and ponds. The great Coteaus of the Mis- 
souri and the James rivers extend in two immense semi-circles, with their 
convex sides facing, through the county, and, at Redfield approach with- 
in about eight miles of each other. To the north and south of this point 
the surface assumes the shape of two grand basins, both of which, proba- 
bly, were once the beds ol iresh water lakes. These basins consist of 
beautiful, undulating prairie, with a rich, black, loamy soil, of inexhaus- 
tible fertility. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(James river line,) forty-two miles; stations: Bright, Mellette, Ashton, 
Redfield, Tulare, Spottswood. Chicago & Northwestern railway, (Huron- 
Oakes line,) forty-five miles; stations: Crandon, Redfield, Athol, North- 
ville; ( Watertown-Faulkton line,) thirty-six miles; stations: Doland, 
Frankfort, Redfield: (Doland extension,) twenty-four miles; stations: 
Dol md, Turton, Coral. Total, 105 miles. Total miles of railroad in county, 
147. 

Vacant public lands, 960 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are twelve banks doing business in this county, as follows: First 
National Bank, at Ashto", S. F. Hammond, president; F. W. Kammann, 
cashier. James Valley Bank, at Ashton, M. F. Scofield, president; Rob- 
ert T. Lang, cashier. Billinghurst Bros., at Ashton, B. R. Hawley, cashier. 
Bank of Athol, at Athol, S. Horton, president. Bank of Doland, at Do- 
land, F. H. Doland, president; W. L McMaster, cashier. First National 
Bank, at Doland, O. W. Barlow, president; S. E. Morris, cashier. James 
River Bank, at Frankfort, Frank Drew, preside tit; S. Drew, cashier. 
Bank of Mellette, at Mellette, John Gange, president; A. J. Gauge, cashier. 
Bank of North ville, at North ville, B. A. Bissell, president. Bank of Red- 
field, at Redfield, D. R. Miller, cashier. First National Bank, at Redfield, 
W. W. Taylor, president; H. M. Benedict, cashier. Spink County Bank, 
at Redfield, H. H. Wood, president; F. A. Dawes, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Spink County Leader, C. L. Downey and C. M. Downey, editors and 
publishers, Ashton; Tribune, H. S. Woodworth, editor, Crandon; Record, 
Geddes & Lane, editors and publishers, ODoland; Times, Len V. Doty, 
publisher, Doland; The Advocate, W. B. Tapley, editor and publisher, 
Frankfort; Spink County News, Chas. E. Foster, publisher, Mellette; 
Tribune, C. M. Howe & Son, publishers, F. A. Howe, editor, Mellette; 
The Advance, John Bushell, editor, Northville; Independent, F. E. Pierce, 
publisher, Northville; Journal, Journal Publishing Co., publishers, Red- 
field; Dispatch, H. L. Henry, editor and publisher, Redfield; Dakota 
Methodist, 0. S. Basford, editor and publisher, Redfield. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Redfield, on the Turtle river, is the couoty seat. It has a population of 
1,500; five church edifices, valued at $10,000; court-house and city hall, val- 
ued at $15,000; water- works (artesian) system, valued at $10,000; flour-mills, 
valued at $35,000; creamery, valued at* $6, (XX); opera-house; wood-working 
establishment, etc. Assessed valuation city property, 1887, real, $140, 000; 
personal, $105.<*i0; total, $245,000. The congregational college is located 
at Redfield. Fo: a description of the institution, see page 220 of this pub- 
lication. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Ashton, on the James river; population, 1,000; school-building, valued 
at $5,000; church edifices, valued at $5,0<X); city buildings, valued at $L0,- 
000; water- works (artesian) system, valued at $9,000; flour-mill, valued at 
$25,000; brick-yards. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and 
personal, $159,000. Athol, in the west; population, H00; school- building, 
valued at $4,000; congregational church edifh e, valued at $2,000; brewery, 
valued at $6,000; telephone. Crandon, southeast of Redfield; population, 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



463 



250; school-building, valued at $500; rnethodist church edifice, valued at 
$2,000; flour-mill. Doland, in the east; population, 500; school-building, 
valued at $1,200; rnethodist church edifice, valued at $3,500; grain eleva- 
tors; business houses; hotels, etc. Frankfort, on the James river; popu- 
lation, 500; school-building; church organizations; water-power; grain ele- 
vators, etc; artesian well projected. Assessed valuation town property, 
1886,real and personal, $80,000. Mellette, in the north; population, 250; 
school-building, valued at $1,200; presbyterian and rnethodist church 
edifices, valued at $4,000; grain elevators, etc. Assessed valuation town 
property, 1886, real and personal, $104,000. North ville, in the northwest; 
population, 300; school-building, valued at $1,200; rnethodist church 
edifice, valued at $1,000; grain elevators, etc. Assessed valuation town 
property, 1886, real and personal, $65,<>00. Tulare, south of Redfield; 
population, 150; school-building; church organizations; grain elevators; 
business houses; hotels, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, nineteen; school population, 2,993; 
number of school-houses in district, 127 ; number of school-houses built 
in 1886, twenty-two; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $36.62; fe- 
males, $31.12; value of all school property ,"$104,640. 06; expended for school 
purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $66, "-04. 77; cash remaining 
in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $8,278.73; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30, 1886, $99,300; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
seven per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$6,864.42. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. Swine. 



Valuation. 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



174 

5,043 
6.875 
6,733 



25 
461 
497 
518 



290 
6,530 
8.207 
9,205 



2,-500 
4,951 
5,147 



2,873 
4,471 
2.858 



8 450,948 
564,597 
546.906 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



469,805 
506,083 
543,363 



1,743 
1,787 126 
1,837,665 
1,713,887 



295,350 
314,171 
361,455 



I 8.132 
510,198 
676,038 
621,602 



S 9,875 

3,043 622 
3.392,471 
3,263,850 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for vears 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



! Bushels in 

1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 


1 
j none 


1,616,449 

266,918 

740,675 

2J73 

508 

96,172 


2,550,000 


Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat 

Barlev 


none 

none 

none 

1 none 

\ none 


510,000 

1,200,000 

4,800 

1,000 

217,500 


Flax 


1 none 


164.997 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 477; 1885, 10,446. Lands improved, 1880, 
4,335 acres; 1885, 219,471 acres. Number of farms, 1880. ninety; 1885, 
2,358. Average size of farms, 1880, for ry-eight acres; 1885. ninety-three 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.15. Countv indebt- 
edness, 1887, $4,341. Potato crop, 1885, 107,638 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 
22,788 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 5,539 gallons; 
butter, 277,905 pounds; cheese, 1,725 pounds; eggs, 122.049 dozen. 






464 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. Name. I P. O. Address. 

I i 

Auditor J. M. eidlernan... 'Redfiell 

Treasurer ^C. G. Wiuchell Redfield 

Sheriff M. J. Starr iRedfield 

Clerk District Court H. L. Henry Redfield 

Probate Judge |Isaac Howe Redfield 

Register of Deeds B. Goodwin, Jr RedhVld 

Attorney Thos. Sterling Northville 

Superinlendeut of Schools ! Read Matheney Ash ton 

Surveyor |\V. H. Hedges 'Redfield 

Coroner ...J. P. Hinckley Tulare 

Assessor J. B. Churchill Armalale 

f|J. F. Huggins Beotia 

| A. J Tuihill Franktort 

Commissioners -J J. VV. Switzer Alioona 

| John Bnshell Northville 

Jj. E. Labrie, Jr Doland 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, J 


L887. 




Armadale 


Do'aud 

Frankfort 


Ridge 

Rose 




Ashton 




Athol 




Beotia 


Irving 

LaDelle 


Spottswood 

Sumner 

Tetonka 




Boz 




Bright 


Mellette 

Northville 

■ CDFIBI.D 




Crandiui -. 







STANLEY COUNTY. 



Created. January 8, 1873, from original territory. Boundaries 
changed, January 11, 1875; changed again March 9, 1883,* part to Pyatt. 
tfnorganized. 

Stanley county is situated in the central part of southern Dakota, on the 
west bank of the Missouri river. It is entirely within the boundaries of 
Great Sioux Indian reservation, See article on the Sioux reservation in 
o .v-rv.ov port f - ' •- - -1 !i tion. ^ 

LIST OF POSTOFFIC ES IN COUNTY, 1887. 

C 77 " 1 -?-'. ('"cr-rr ieTre) .„....'. .7. | Fort Bennett 77777. 77 



STARK COUNTY. 



Created, February 10, 1879, from original territory. Boundaries 
changed, March 9, 1883, part to Hettinger; changed again, March 10, 1887, 
part to Morton, and part from Villard. Organized, May 1, 1883, by the 
appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: 
Horace I. Dickinson, Jas. Col ister, Janes Y. Campbell. 

Stark county is situated in western Dako'a, south of the 47th degree of 
latitude, and the second county east of the Montana boundary. Principal 
stream is the Heart river, which, with its many smaller tributaries, drain 
the central and southeastern portion-*. The northeastern part of the 
county is drained by branches of the Big Knife river. The Green river 
waters the northwestern section of the county. Numerous springs are 
scattered throughout its area, and considerable native timber grows along 
the banks of all the streams. Lignite coal abounds in many locali- 
ties, and sandstone outcrops occasionally. Surface, high, rolling prairie, 
river valleys, level prairie, with a few isolated buttes and 

Eeaks. The country adjacent to the streams, is marked by a line of low 
luffs, which sweep away in a rolling prairie. In the western part of 
Stark county the surface rolls in beautiful and more regular undulations. 
Soil, a rich loam, growing the finest and most nutritious native forage. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



465 



The lands of Stark county— with their supply of springs and brooks, are 
peculiarly fitted for agricultural pursuits, and stock growing. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific railway, 46.9 miles; sta- 
tions: Antelope, Richardton, Taylor, Gladstone, Dickinson, Eland, South 
Heart, Belfield. Total, 46. w miles. 

Vacant public lands, 266,240 acres. 

BANKS. 

There is one bank doing business in this county, as follows: Stark 
County Bank, at Dickinson, H. J. Whitley, president; A. Hilliard, cashier. 



NEWSPAPERS. 



Press, J. T. Scott, editor and publisher, 
aid, Chas. Wilson, publisher, Gladstone. 



Dickinson ; Stark County Her- 



COUNTY SEAT. 

Dickinson, on the Heart river, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 700; school-building, valued at $2,200; catholic and baptist church edi- 
fices, valued at $3,000; court-house and jail, valued at $15,000. A good 
quality of lignite coal is mined in the vicinity of Dickinson. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Belfield, in the west; population fifty; schools; church edifice, etc. 
Gladstone, east of Dickinson; population, 400; school-building, valued at 
$700; congregational and methodist church edifices, valued at $3,000; flour- 
mill, valued at $20,000. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and 
personal, $54,000. Richardton, in the northeast; population, 100; school- 
building, valued at $800; church edifice, valued at $2,000; water-works 
system, valued at $10,000; creamery. Lignite coal is found in the vicinity 
of Richardton. Assessed valuation town property, 1887, real and personal, 
$25,015. South Heart, in the west ; schools; general stores, etc. Lignite 
coal is mined in the vicinity of the town. Taylor, between Gladstone and 
Richardton; schools; general stores; hotel, etc. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, ei^ht; school population, 391; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, four; number of school-houses built in 
1886, three; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $36.00; females, 
$29.80; value of all school property, $4,500.00; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30, 1886, $6,492.44; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886. $639.24; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $3,20>.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$57.50. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules andj 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. ■ Swine. 



Valuation. 



18*5 
1886 
1887 



407 
. 473 

l/)84 



38 



740 
1958 
3,508 



53 
145 



240 
510 
266 



9 36,506 

93,558 

115,424 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1885 
1886 

1887 



A.cres Real 
Estate. 



56.204 
66.363 
284,933 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



erty valuation. 



Total 

valuation 
county. 



of 



1S9.076 
183,550 
730 811 



18 216 
155,626 
203.059 



49.162 
85,399 
83.939 



$ 242.960 

518.133 

1.138,233 



466 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



FAEM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat 

Barley 

Flax 



Bushels in 


Bushels in 


Bushels in 


1880. 


1885. 


1887. 


none 


18,538 


82,676 


none 


4,776 


7,650 


none 


94,309 


90,714 


none 


20 


286 


none 


198 


56 


none 


2,069 


5,475 


none 




320 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 1,507. Lands improved, 1885, 
11,480 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 419. Average size of farms, 1885, 
twenty-seven acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.56. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $15,000. Potato crop, 1885, 38,406 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885 709 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 
2,295 gallons; butter, 20,806 pounds; cheese, 318 pounds, eggs, 12,497 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk Geo. Auld 

Treasurer J. A. Farrah 

Sheriff M. A. Sebastian 

Clerk District Court iC. 1). Briggs 

Probate Judge ! J. (i. Campbell 

Register of Deed? JGeo. Auld 

Attorney !Wrr>. Gibson 

Superintendent of Schools JThos. Erans 

Surveyor J. G. Saunders 

Coroner [Peter Ellison 

Assessor John Riessbeck 

( [H. L. Dickinson 

Commissioners < Robert Lee 

! Thos. S. Underhill. 



Dickinson... 
Dickinson... 
Dickinson... 
Dickinson... 
Dickioson... 
Dickinson... 
Dickihson... 
Gladstone.... 
Gladstone.... 
Richardton. 

Antelope 

Dickinson.... 
Gladstone.... 
Antelope...... 



LIST OP POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Antelope.. 
Belfieid.... 
Dickinson 



Gladstone 

Richardton... 
South Hean. 



Taylor. 



STEELE COUNTY. 



Area, 460,800 acres. Created, March 8, 1883, from parts of Traill and 
Griggs. Organized, June 8, 1883, by the appointment, by 'the Governor, of 
the following commissioners, viz: P. S. McKay, R. W. Berry and Thos. 
Ward. 

Steele county is situated between the 47th and 48th degrees of latitude, 
in the northeastern part of the Territory, and is the second county west of 
the Minnesota state line. The Goose river flows through two of the north- 
eastern townships, and theSheyenne river touches two of the western 
townships. The north, south and middle branches of the Goose river, 
thoroughly drain the northern and eastern townships. The Maple river 
flows through the southwestern part. The county has within its borders 
a number of small lakes and ponds. The water, everywhere in the county, is 
excellent, being clear and free from alkali. Steele county lies within the 
great wheat belt of the Territory, and has a deep, rich soil, adapted not 
only to the raising of wheat, but of all other farm products. Surface, gen- 
erally, a rolling prairie. 

Miles of railroad in county. St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, 
(Ripon and Hope line,) eight miles; stations: Hope, Colgate. 

Vacant public lands, none. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



4(57 



BANKS. 

There is one bank doing business in this county as follows: Bank of 
Hope, at Hope. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Pioneer. R. H. Simpson, editor and publisher, Hope; Steele County 
Tribune, W. E. Snowden, Jr., editor and publisher, Sherbrooke. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Sherbrooke, in the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 
100; school-building; church organizations; public buildings, etc. As- 
sessed valuation town property, 1880, real and personal, $8,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Colgate, in the south; population fifty; schools, etc. Hope, south of 
the center; population, 250; school-buildings, valued at $4,000; congrega- 
tional church edifice, valued at 12,500; grain elevators; hotels, etc. Assess- 
ed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $90,000. Pickert, 
west of Sherbrooke; general stores; grain warehouses, etc. 
schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, eleven; school population, 795; num- 
ber of school- houses in district, twenty- five; number of school-houses 
built in 1886. ten; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $40.00; females, 
$37.00; value of all school property, $19,387.55; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 80, 1886, $7,608 84; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $4,089.78; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $14,000; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$4,725 67. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and 
Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



1G94 
2,090 
2,259 



221 

277 
283 



2,280 
2,877 
3.361 



314 
368 
468 



653 
1,266 
1,082 



$ 153,732 
210.749 
156,721 



Tear. 



Acres Real 
Estate 



VALUATION STATISTICS 
Valuation. 



Town Lots j Personal Prop- j™* 1 ^ff'f Se d f 
valuation. erty valuation. 1 



county. 



1885 
188« 
1887 



259,812 
285.367 
301.531 



$ 661,891 
1,327,830 
1,615.169 



S 60.394 
76,853 
61,382 



S 99,361 
117,702 
142,347 



f 975.378 
1,733.184 
1.975.619 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bush- Is in Bushels in 
1880 1885. 



Bushels in 
1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 


i none 

• none 


762,230 

5,537 

S19.140 

600 


975 000 

11,691 

509,976 


Rve 


none 


6 



Buckwheat 

"Barley 

Flax 






24 510 
528 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885. 3,080. Lands improved, 1885, 
76,469 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 942. Average size of farm a, 1885, 
eighty-one acres. Average assessed raluation per acre, 1887, $5.37. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $24,279. Potato crop, 1885, 29,025 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 922 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 
2,820 gallons; butter, 64,403 pounds; cheese, 380 pounis; eggs, 37,584 
dozen. 



468 RESOUBCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 

i 


P. 0. Address. 




E. P. Seymour 

K. H. Brunsdale 

B. F. Walden 

c. H. Ward 

R. W. Berry 

E. S Seymour 

C. J. Paul 

G. W. Winchell 

E. W. Palmer.... 

Dr. W. H. M. Philip 

R. B. Cochrane 

L. c. Gonlernd 








Sheriff. 


Hope 


Clerk District Court 














Hope 






Hope 

Hope 

Sherbrooke 

Portland 




Assessor 


f 

-I 


Commissioners 








J. L. Wilcox 

S. H. Nelson 


Hope 

Mardell 


LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 


Belle vj'ria 


Hope |shekbb 

Mardell 

Pickert | 


OOKE 


Colgate 

Golden Lake 













STERLING COUNTY. 

Created March 8,_ 1883. 

Sterling county is situated in southern Dakota, west of the Missouri 
river between the 44th and 45th degrees of latitude. It is entirely within 
the boundaries of the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the 
Sioux reservation elsewhere in this publication. 



STEVENS COUNTY. 



Created, January 4, 1S73, from part of Buffalo. Boundaries changed, 
in 1883, part to McLean: changed again in 1885, between Ward, McHenry 
and Garfield. Unorganized. v - 

Stevens county is situated in northern Dakota. It reaches from ihe 
48th degree of latitude, on the north, to the Missouri river, on the south. 
With exception of the Missouri river, which forms a part of its southern 
boundary, there are no streams of importance within the limits of Stevens 
county. * Surface, river bottoms, high rolling, and gently undulating prairie. 
The hills of thePlateau duCoteau du Missouri cross the northeastern corner 
of the county. The course of the Missouri is marked with the usual line 
of broken and rugged bluffs. Soil, the alluvial deposit and glacial drift of 
the Missouri pleateau. The Ft. Stevenson military reservation covers 
perhaps two townships in the southwestern corner of Stevens county. 
The public lands in the county are unsurveyed. 

Vacant public lands, 652.800 acres. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 
Fort Srevenson. 



STUTSMAN COUNTY, 



Area, 1,474,560 acres. Created, January 4, 1873, from parts of Buffalo 
and Pembina. Boundaries changed, in 1885, part to Stanton. The county 
was organized, June 10, 1873, hv the appointment, by the Governor, of the 
following commissioners, viz.-" A. W. Kelley, Geo. W. Vennum and H. 
C. Miller. 

Stutsman is a county of the northern James river valley, and is situated 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 469 

on the 47th degree of latitude, midway from the Missouri river 
on the west, and the Minnesota state line on the east. Principal stream 
is the James river which enters near the center of the northern bounda- 
ry, and flows through the entire county, in a course east ofsouth. The 
Pipestem river rises in the northwest and, crossing several townships, 
meets the James near the city of Jamestown. Beaver creek drains the 
southern tier of townships. A number of other smaller streams flow into 
the James, from either side. The county contains within its limits numer- 
ous fresh water lakes and ponds. The varieties of native timber on the 
wooded belt of the James are the elm, box-elder, oak and hackberry. 
Surface of the county, undulating prairie with considerable fine bottom 
lands and meadows. Along the courses of the streams, Ihe land is some- 
what hilly. The southwestern townships are broken by the low chain of 
the Coteaus. Soil, a dark, rich and somewhat sandy loam, of a depth of 
from two to three feet, under which is a sub-soil of clay, or marl, impreg- 
nated with lime. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific railway, (Jamestown 
Northern branch,) 32.8 miles; stations: Jamestown, Park hurst, Buchanan, 
Pingree, Edmunds; (main line,) 50. 9 miles; stations: Spiritwood, Bloom, 
Jamestown, Eldridge, Windsor, Cleveland, Medina; (James river valley 
line,) 23.9 miles; stations: Jamestown, Ypsilanti, Montpelier. Total, 107.6 
miles. 

Vacant public lands, 257,600 acres; Fargo land district, 42,560 acres; 
Bismarck land district, 215,040 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are three banks doing business in this county as follows: James 
River National Bank, at Jamestown, E. P. Wells, president; Geo. L. 
Webster, cashier. North Dakota Bank, at Jamestown, R. M. Winslow, 
manager. Lloyds, Bankers, at Jamestown. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Daily Alert, W. R. Kellogg, publisher, Jamestown; The Capital, J. C. 
Warnock, editor, Jamestown; Der Pioneer, A. Steinbach, editor and pub- 
lisher, Jamestown; North Dakota Farmer, Chas. W. Blew, editor and 
publisher, Jamestown; College Campus, Jamestown. 

COUNTY SKAT. 

Jamestown, on the James river, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 2,500; school-buildings, valued at $40,000; baptist, catholic, episcopal, 
presbyterian and two methodist church edifices, valued at $18,01)0; court- 
house, valued at $35,000; water-works (artesian) system, valued at $40,000; 
flour-mill, planing-mill, two brick-yards and two breweries, together, 
valued at $60,000; railway division shops; opera house; lime-kilns; water- 
power. Assessed valuation town propertv, 1886, real, $800,000; personal, 
$200,000; total. $1,000,000. The presbyterian college located at Jamestown 
is described on page 221 of this publication. For a description of the Da- 
kota hospital for the insane, Jamestown, see page 227. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Eldridge, west of Jamestown; population, 100; school-building, valued 
at $3,000; grain elevators; general stores, etc. Pingree, in the north; 
population, 100; school-building; grain elevators; general stores, etc. 
Spiritwood, in the east; population, 100; school building, valued at $1,500; 
grain elevators; general store, etc. Windsor, in the center; population, 
100; school-building, valued at $2,000; grain elevators; hotels; business 
houses, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886. ) 

Number of organized townships, twelve; school population, 746; num- 
ber of school houses in district, forty-four; number of school-houses built 
in 1886, fifteen; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $36.67; females, 
$33 33; value of all school property, $40,094.05; expended for school pur- 
poses during year ending June 30.1886, $27 478.07; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $8,614.44; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $15,639.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$4,971.08. 



470 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


i Horses. 

1 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 


328 
1,735 
1,949 
2,114 


4 
398 
361 

3G6 


449 
2.750 
3. 487 
4.391 


176 

864 

1.256 

1.484 


75 

891 

1,034 

515 


* 


1885 

1886 

1SS7 


8 116.782 
134,786 
156 182 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



EW3ST&-- 01 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



558.121 
567,587 
855.785 



$ 913.138 
1.252.785 
1.814.463 
1 687.163 



$ 670.634 
658,412 
642.955 



$ 71,686 
198,821 
208,490 
237.089 



§ 384.824 
2 281.022 
2,316,151 
2.723,389 



1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880. 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 




MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 1,007; 1885, 5.632. Lands improved, 1880, 
9,319 acres; 1885, 103,322 acres.. Number of farms, 1880 102; 1885,1,402. 
Average size of farms, 1880, ninety-one acres, 1885, seventy-four acres. 
Average assessed valuation per * acre, 1887, $1.97. County indebt- 
edness, 1887, $84,857. Potato crop, 1885, 85.285 bushels. Wool clip, 1885 
4,505 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk. 13,462 gal- 
lons; butter, 117,353 pounds; cheese, 775 pounds; eggs, 73,087 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P, O. Address, 


Auditor 

Treasurer 


A.. C. McMillan 

S. K. McGinnis 

S. McKechnie 

Chas. T. Hills 

Wm, P. Fan-ell 

L. B. Miner 


Jamestown 


Sheriff 




Clerk District Court .. , 




Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 


Jamestown 


James own 


Peter H. Foley 




Surveyor 

Coroner 

Assessor 


T. F. Branch 

F. E. Thorold, M. D 

Chas. R. Flint ... 

D. C. Buck, (chairman) 


Jamestown 

Jamestown 






J. J. Eddy '. 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 188/, 



Albion Eslcr JRio 

Arrowood ;Gray Miarlow 

Atwill Horn Spiritwood. 

Corinne Jamestown Windsor 

Edmunds Montpelier lYpsilaMti ... 

Eldridge Pingr^e I 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 471 

SULLY COUNTY. 

Area, 668,160 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from original territory. 
Boundaries changed, 1883, part to Hyde. Organized, April 4, 1883, by the 
appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.; 
N. H. Young, Benjamin P. Hoover, and Geo. J. Millett, Sr. 

Sully is a county of southern Dakota, situated on the east bank of the 
Missouri river, between the 44th and 45th degrees of latitude. The Mis- 
souri river washes the western boundary of Sully county for a distance of 
nearly fifty miles, including the many windings of the stream. The only 
other stream of any importance, is Okobojo creek, which enters Sullv 
county near the northeastern corner, flows thence in a general southwest 
direction across the county, and discharges into the Missouri close to the 
south line in the southwest corner. Several small feeders of Medicine 
creek have their source in the southeast part of the county. There are 
a number of springs of excellent water found within the county — one of 
which, in the extreme southeast, a sulphur spring, is quite noted 
for its remedical properties. Surface, generally, a high rolling prairie or 
table land,cutthrough, diagonally, by the valley of Okobojo creek — which 
is somewhat narrow — though widening in places to a mile or more. High 
bluffs border the Missouri river from the northern to the southern line of 
the county. The most prominent elevations, are the well-know Arti- 
choke and Sully buttes. There is considerable bottom land along the 
course of the river. Quite a growth of native timber borders the banks 
of the Missouri river and Okobojo creek. The numerous large islands of 
the first named stream, are covered with trees. Soil, a black, sandy 
loam, underlaid with clay. The Fort Sally military reservation occupies 
about two townships adjacent to the Missouri river. 

Vacant public lands, 12,320 acres. 

BANKS. 

There is one banks doing business in this county, as follows: Sully 
County Bank, at Onida, Frank Drew, president; C. R. Drew, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Sully County Watchman, Jno. Gropengeiser, publisher, Clifton; Times, 
S. A. Travis, editor, Okobojo; Journal, Frank A. Everts, proprietor, Onida. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Onida, in the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 150; 
school-building, valued at $1,800; church organizations; court-house, 
valued at $2,000; business houses; hotels, etc. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Clifton, on Okobojo creek; population, fifty; school-building; church 
organizations; business houses; hotel, etc. Fairbank, on the Missouri 
river; population, seventy-five; school-building, valued at $2,500; general 
stores; hotel, etc. Norfolk, in the east; population, twenty-five; school, 
etc. Okobojo, on a stream of the same name; population, fifty ; school- 
building, valued at $500: church organizations; flour- mill, valued at $6,000; 
general stores; hotels, etc. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, twenty- five; school population, 804; 
number of school-houses in district, fifty-four; number of school-houses 
built in 1886, twenty-one; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $30.23; 
females, $29.32; value of all school property, $31,348.38; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $20,722.32; cash remain- 
ing in school treasury June 30, 1886, $2,661.76; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30, 1886, $32,100.00; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, seven per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 
1886, $5,225.81. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 
Year. | Horses. | Mu ^.| e J nd Cattle. ; Sheep. Swine. [ Valuation. 

1885 1,437 212 1,424 351 597 $ 126,114 

1886 1,451 I 199 2,485 206 I 664 124,455 

1887 1,526 206 3.291 | 605 416 126,301 



472 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

VALUATION 1 STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots IPepsonslProp-l^jlX 6 ,? 86 ^ 
valuation. erty valuation. ™"*„ 



1885 
1886 
1887 



207.876 
241.170 
269 108 



531.810 

759.725 
863,210 



28,938 
23 226 
18.344 



$ 85.166 
68,872 
57.214 



$ 772,028 

976,278 

1,065,099 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, ior years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels m 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 


none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 


36,646 
27 479 
36 740 

484 
40 

774 


190,130 


Corn 

Oats 

Rye 


462 521 

133.400 

6,765 




140 




23,625 


Flax 


26 940 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS . 

Population of county, 1880, 290; 1885. 3,233. Lands improved, 1885, 
36,147 acres. Number of farm?, 1885, 1,160. Average size of farms, 1885, 
tkiriy-one acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1*87, $3.21. County 
indebtedness, 1887, $11,600. Potato crop, 1885, 15,565 bnshels. Wool clip, 
1885, 2,080 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 9,482 gal- 
lons; butter, 33,778 pounds; cheese, eighty-four pounds; eggs, 30,102 
dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address.. 



Count j 7 Clerk 

Treasurer 

Sheriff 

<'lerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 

Superintendent of Schools., 

Surveyor 

Coroner 

Assessor 



Oommssioners. 



P. Q. Jordan 

William Toomej 

L. H. Bruner., 

W A. Lynch 

J. H. Gropen^ei«er ^ 

D. Q. Jordan 

Thomas M. Goddard 

L. D. Carr 

L. M. French 

E. J. Loughlen. M. D 

Frank Lillibridge 

H. E. Kimmel. (chairman). 

W. J. Johnston 

W. H. Little 

Jas. Lawrence 

E. W. Eakin 



Onida 

Onida 

Onida 

Onda 

iOnida 

[Onida 

IGoddard... 
Brayton.... 

Onida 

! Onida , 

Onida 

Marston.... 
Fairbank . 
Warhecke. 

Copp 

Hlunt 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Augusta.... 

Brayton 

Carson 

Clifton 

Fairbank.., 
Fort Sully. 



Goddard 

Lewiston... 
McCamley 

Marston 

Norfolk 

Okobojo 



Onida 

Percilla.... 

Turley 

Warnecke. 
Waterford. 



TODD COUNTY. 



Created May 8, 1862. Boundaries changed January 8, 1873. 

Todd is the smallest county of the Territory and is situated on the _ Ne- 
braska state line, where the "Missouri river first touches it. It isentirelj 
within the boundaries of the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article 
on the Sioux reservation elsewhere in this publication. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICE S IN COUNTY, 1887. 

~ Fort~Randall. 



RESOURCES OE DAKOTA. 
TOWNER COUNTY. 



473 



Area, 691,200 acres. Created, March 8, 1883, from parts of Cavalier and 
Rolette. Organized, Nov. 6, 1883, by the appointment, by the Governor, 
of the following commissioners, viz.: P. T. Parker, H. C. Davis, and J. 
W. Connella. 

Towner county is situated on the northern boundary of Dakota — the 
third county w r est of the Minnesota state line. A great number of lakes 
and coulees, supply water to the various sections. Surface, a plateau of 
fine agricultural lands, and meadows of excellent pasturage. Along the 
course of the BigCoulee river there isa valley oi great fertility, from ten to 
twenty miles in width, extending the full length of the county. Soil, a 
rich, black loam, from eighteen inches to three feet in depth — underlying 
which, is a clayey marl sub soil, from ten to thirty feet in depth. 

Vacant public lands, 236,400 acres. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Towner County Tribune, Ed. F. Sibley, editor and publisher, Cando. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Cando, in the south, is the county sear. It has a population of 150; 
school building, valued at $2,000; church organizations; court-house; gen- 
eral stores; hotel, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real, 
$8,500; personal, $7,000; total, $15,500. 

schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, three; school population, 108; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, five; average monthly pay of teachers, 
females, $33.54; value of all school property, $4,750.00; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $3,222.98; cash re- 
maining in school treasury June 30, 1886, $137.43; par amount of school 
bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $4,600.00; average rate of interest paid 
on bonds, eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 
30, 1886, $1,174.88. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


blules andl 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 

1 


Valuation. 


1885 


123 
190 
345 


47 
180 j 
120 


173 
267 
431 




M 

196 
233 


$ 21,166 


1886 
1887 


3 

21 


35,016 
56 334 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year 



1885 
1886 
1887 



Acres Real 

Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Persona' Prop- 
jerty valuation 



Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 



24 520 
35,852 
41.986 



122.593 
179.266 
210,659 



4.128 
4,315 
1.185 



S 9.895 
21.281 
37.107 



$ 157.782 
242.878 

805.2 '5 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in countv, for years 18S0, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 

1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 

Corn 


none 
none 
nont 
none 
none 


8,455 
40 

15,930 
586 


362,322 


Oats 

Barley 

Flax... 


275, 0C0 

12.000 
600 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 366. Lands improved, 1885, 
8,445 acres. Number of forms, 1885, 108. Average size of farms, 1885, 
seventy- eight acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 18S7, $5.02. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $21,685. Potato crop, 1885, 800 bushels. 



474 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OP COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887 



Office. 



Name. P. O. Address. 



County Clerk. 
Treasurer.. 



W. E. Pew ICando. 

C. J. Atkins Cando. 



Sheriff. j Edward Gorman | Cando. 



clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 


P. P. Parker 

J.W.Hardee 

W. E. Pew 


Cando 

Cando 

Cando 


R. D. Cowan 












J. S. < onyers 


Cando 




James McCanna 


Cando 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Cando., ICoolin. 

Cecil IPicton. 



Snyder. 



TRAILL COUNTY. 



Area, 576,000 acres. Created, January 12, 1875, from parts of Burchard, 
Cass, and Grand Forks. Boundaries changed, March 8, 1883, part to 
Steele. Organized, January 12, 1875, Asa H. Morgan, John Brown, and 
James Ostland, appointed commissioners, and the southeast quar- 
ter, section fifteen, township 146, range forty-nine, designated as county 
seat, by act of Legislature. 

Traill is a Red River valley county, and is situated in northeastern Dakota, 
between the 47th and 48th degrees of latitude. In addition to the Red River 
of the North, which forms the eastern boundary, Traill county is watered 
through its central and northwestern sections, by the Goose river and its 
several tributaries, and in the south tier of townships, by the Elm river 
and its branches. The county contains a few small lakes, and numerous 
springs of pure, fresh water. It is estimated th&t there are 30,000 acres of 
timber along the banks of the Goose and the Red rivers, and 10,000 more 
in what is known as the Grand Coulee, in the north, and along the Elm. 
The principal varieties of native timber include the oak, basswood, ash, 
elm, soft maple, box-elder, and cottonwood. Surface, generally level prairie, 
with iust enough slope to drain it properlv. More than three-fourths of 
the entire surface of the county is in the Red River valley. Soil, a rich, 
deep loam, formed of calcareous, and decomposed vegetable deposit, 
heavily charged with the lime carbonates, and phosphates, mixed with 
clay and silicious sand. When dry it is friable like ashes, but when wet, 
it is slippery and adhesive. Sab-soil, clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, 
(Fargo-Grand Forks line,) thirty-one miles; stations: Buxton, Cumings, 
Hillsboro, Alton, Kelso; (Casselton-Larimore line,) thirty-one miles; sta- 
tions: Hatton, Mayville, Murray, Blanchard, Weible; (Ripon 
branch,) twenty-two miles; stations: Portland, Roseville, Clifford, Gales- 
burg. Total, eighty-four miles. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are seven bank? doing business in this county, as follows: Bank 
of Buxton, at Burton, Oliver S. Hanson, president. Bank of Caledonia, 
at Caledonia, J. H. Sarles, president; E. Y. Sarles, cashier. First National 
Bank, at Mayville, G. S. Albee, president; J. Rosholt, cashier. Goose 
River Bank, at Mayville, N. K. Hubbard, president; C. S. Edwards, cash- 
ier. Citizens' Bank, at Portland, G. A. White, president; C. Cranston, 
cashier. First National Bank, at Hillsboro, S. B. Sarles, president, E. Y. 
Sarle*, cashier. Hillsboro National Bank, at Hillsboro, A. L. Plumrier, 
president; A. L. Hanson, cashier. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



475 



NEWSPAPERS. 

The Independent, Henry Martin, editor and publisher, Buxton; Traill 
Couniy Times, E. N. Talk, editor and publisher, Caledonia; The Banner, 
G. A. Bowers, editor, Hillsboro ; Tribune, Elmer I. Smith, editor and pub- 
lisher. Mayville; Inter-Ocean, A. L. Heikes, editor and publisher, Port- 
land; Dakota Bladet, H. A. Foss, editor and publisher, Portland. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Caledonia, at the junction of the Goose with the Red River of the 
North, is the county seat. It has a population of 1, (-00; school-building, 
valued at $2,000; congregational church edifice, valued at $2,(X)0; court- 
house and jail, valued at $20,000: flour-mill, valued at $15,0O(); wagon and 
carriage factory, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real, 
$50,000; personal, $100,000; total. $150,000. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Bellmont, in the northeast, on the Red River; school-building, valued 
at $2,500; baptist church edifice, valued at $1,500; artesian w r ell; wagon 
and carriage factory, saw-mill, etc. Blanchard, southwest of the center; 
population, seventy-five; schools; grain elevators; artesian well; business 
houses, etc. Buxton, in the north; population, 250; school-building, 
valued at $1,000; church edifice, valued at $2,000; artesian well; grain ele- 
vators; business houses; hotels, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 
1886, real and personal, $23, 228. Clifford, in the w r est; population, sixty- 
five; school-building, valued at $1,000; church organizations; grain eleva- 
tors; hotels; business houses, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 
1886, real and personal, $12,000. Cumings, northeast of the center; popu- 
lation, seventy five; school-building, valued at $500; congregational church 
edifice, valued at $2,000; artesian wells; grain elevators; business houses; 
hotels, etc. Hatton, in the northwest; population, 100; schools; church 
organizations; grain elevators; hotels; business houses, etc. Hillsboro, on 
the Goose river; population, 1.2(0; school-building, valued at $5,000; 
church edifices, valued at $8,000; city buildings, valued at $3,000; artesian 
wells; opera house; flour-mill, valued at $40,000; grain elevators, etc. 
Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $225,000. 
Kelso, in the south; population, fifty; school-building; grain elevators; 
general stores; hotels; artesian well, etc. Mayville, in the west, on the 
Goose river; population, 1,250; school-building, valued at $4,000; congre- 
gational, episcopal, and lutheran church edifices, valued at $9,700; city 
buildings; water-works; artesian well; fire department; flour-mill, valued 
at $48,000; opera house, valued at $8,000; telephone; water-power; public 
library, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, 
$143,773. Portland, west of Mayville; population. 500; school-building, 
valued at $3,000; two Norwegian lutheran church edifices, valued at $8,000; 
city building, valued at $1,500; flour-mill, valued at $20,000; grain eleva- 
tors, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, 
$45,953. Weible, in the south; grain elevators; business houses; hotel, etc. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, nineteen; school population, 1,841; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, sixty-three; number of school- houses built 
in 1886, nine; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $43.03; females, 
$37.45; value of all school property, $61,875.60; expended for school pur- 
poses, during year ending June 30, 1886, $40,326.27; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 1886, $23,757.94; par amount of school bonds out- 
standing June 30, 1886, $25,500.00; average rate of interest paid on bonds, 
eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, 
$2,494.94. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


188C 


1,216 

4,817 

4,656 

I 5.569 


178 
1,819 
1,150 
1.216 


3.255 

5,281 
6,128 
7.454 


390 
735 
755 
872 


2.532 
2,314 
3,885 
2,982 


* 


1885 
1886 
1887 


$ 397.810 
360,066 
398.357 



476 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 


Acres Real 
Estate. 


Valuation. ^own Lots 


Personal Prop- 
erty valuation. 


Total assessed 
valuation of 
county. 


1880 




8 648,367 
2,854.214 
1,939,050 
2,100,222 


S 120 292 
113.383 
178,062 


* $ 223,927 
475 023 
569,500 
560 111 


f 872,294 


1885 
1886 
1887 


438 542 
453.170 
468.139 


3,316,839 
8,011 999 
3.256,752 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
18S0 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat. 
Barlev 



333,409 
1.916 

114.575 
none 
none 
13.339 



Bushel? 
18S5. 



Bushels in 

1887. 



2,726,447 

2,392 

833,552 

1,176 



62.402 



2,681.250 

17,880 

895,500 

1.250 

1.000 

154,000 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of bounty, 1880, 4,123; 1885, 8,119. Lands improved, 1880, 
39,088 acres; 1885, 223,967 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 591; 1885, 1,247. 
Average size of farms, 1880, sixty-six acres; 1885, 180 acres. Average as- 
sessed valuation per acre, 1887, $1.49. Potato crop, 1885, 71,88' bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 5.113 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: but- 
ter, 205,329 pounds; cheese, 4,075 pounds; eggs, 102,377 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Name. 


P. O. Address. 






> 1 

H. A. Langlie ; 

K.J. Nomlana '.\ 






Caledonia 


Sheriff 






Clerk District Court 





W. D. Baker 

L. E. Francis . 

Asa Sargea*t 

A. B. Levissie 

Win. A. Kelly .'..1 






Hillsboro 










Superintendent ol Schools 










S. B. Rognlie 

R. J. Johnson 

P. Herbrandson 

J. O. Kjelsberg 

O. Aum 

H. C. Lucken 






f 

1 
I 


Hillsboro 




Caledonia 




Mh,yville 




Buxton 




Portland 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887 



Bellmont ICumiugs ]Kelso 

Blanchanl jGalesburg Mayville.. 

I Hague ! Portland. 

i Hatton Quiney ... 

iHillsboro IWeible 



Buxton 

Caledonia. 
Clifford , 



TRIPP COUNTY. 



Created, January 8, 1873, from original territory. 

Tripp is a county Dear the center of the southern boundary line of the 
Territory. It lies entirely within the boundary of the Great Sioux In- 
dian reservation. See article on Sioux reservation elsewhere in this pub- 
lication. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 477 

TURNER COUNTY. 



Area, 399.360 acres. Created, January 13, 1871, irom parts of Jayne and 
Lincoln. Organized January 13, 1871 ; Win. W. Aurner, Valentine P. Thiel- 
man, and Lewis H. Elliott appointed commissioners, and the county 
seat located on the southeast quarter of section nine, township ninety- 
seven, range fifty-three, by act of Legislature. 

Turner, a comity of southeastern Dakota, situated in the second tier of 
counties west of the Iowa boundary, and in the second north of the Ne- 
braska state line. Principal streams, the Vermillion river, which 
traverses the eastern side of the county from north to south; the west 
fork of the Vermillion, which enters the county near the northwest cor- 
ner, runs in a southeasterly course and joins the main river near the cen- 
ter of the county, and Turkey Ridge creek, which rises in the west, flows 
through the width of the county and empties into the Vermillion, near 
the southeast corner. Swan lake, near the town of that name, is a beau- 
tiful sheet of water about one and a half miles long and one and a half 
miles wide. An island near tbe center of the lake is covered with native 
timber. Limestone, and carbonate of lime, or imperfect chalk, are found 
in this county. Surface, principally prairie land, gently rolling in charac- 
ter. The bottom lands of the Vermillion river average several miles in 
width, and are very fertile. The valley of Turkey Ridge creek is from 
three to ten miles in width, pnd most excellent land. Soil of the county, 
a rich alluvium, varying in depth from two to four feet, with a sub-soil 
of clay. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad 
(mainline) twenty-nine miles; stations: Marion Junction, Parker; (Run- 
ning Water branch), six miles; station: Marion Junction. Total, thirty- 
five miles. Chicago & Northwestern railway (Hawarden line), thirty- 
three miles; stations: Parker, Mansfield, Hurley, Hooker, Centreville; 
(Yankton & Centreville line), three miles; station: Centreville. Total, 
thirty-six miles. Total miles of railroad in county, seventy- one. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are six banks doing business in this county, as follows: Ban 1 : of 
Centreville, at Centreville, J. L. Bennett, president: W. E. Brigg3, cashier. 
Turner County Bank, at Hurley, Edward Mav, president; Augustus May, 
cashier. Banking House of Ernst Reiff, at Marion, Chas. Dondere, cash- 
ier. Danforth & Knapp, at Parker. Citizens Bank, at Parker, G. M. Gilch- 
rist, president; W. A. Houts, cashier. First National Bank, at Parker L. 
K. Lord, president; Geo. W. Stone, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Chronicle, F. F. Hanaford, editor and proprietor, Centreville; Index, 
J. E. McMullen, editor,|Centre ville; Turner County Herald, W. C. Brown, 
editor, Hurley; Sentinel, J. E. Hazlitt, editor, Marion; The New 
Era, Chas. F. Hacket, editor and publisher. Parker; Press, M. T. 
Hoyt, editor and publisher, Parker; Western Educator, Parker. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Parker, north of the center, on the Vermillion river, is the county seat. 
It has a population of 1,000; school-building, valued at $2,500; presbyte- 
rian, episcopal, baptist and methodist church edifices, valued at $5,000; 
water- works system; flour-mill; oat-meal mill; creamery; broom factory; 
granite quarries; artesian well projected. Assessed valuation city prop- 
erty, 1886, real, $99,040; personal, $55,900; total, $154,940. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Centreville, in the southeast; population, 700: school-building, valued 
at $4,000; baptist, reformed, methodist and catholic church edifices, 
valued at $8,000; flour-mill, valued at $15,000; water-power. Assessed 
valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $195,000. Hurley, near 
the center, population, 400; school-building, valued at $5,000; baptist, 
presbyterian, episcopal, methodist. and catholic church edifices, valued 
at $10*000; town hall, valued at $1,500; artesian wells; creamery, valued 
at $3,000. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, 



478 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



$89,197. Marion, west of Parker; population, 500; school-building, valued 
at $2,500; two church edifices, valued at $3,000; public buildings, valued at 
$2,000; artesian well; flour- mill, creamery, and cheese factory, together, 
valued at $25,000. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and person- 
al, $55,000. Swan Lake, in the south, population, forty; school; church 
edifice, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 
Number of organized townships, twelve; school population, 2,470; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, seventy-seven; number of school- 
houses built in 1886, three; average monthly pay of teachers, males, 
$39.25; females, $32. 27; value of all school property, $49,940; expended for 
school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $28,081.13; cash re- 
maining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $4,103.37; par amount of 
school oonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $21,100; average rate of interest 
paid on bonds, eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $7,348.55. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 




1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



! Personal mnn Total aisessed 
rcr&OIldl prop- valnpHnn r\f 

erty valuation, county 



1880 
1885 
1886 
1887 



252.368 
276.873 
286,182 



$ 29 J, 654 

908,890 

938,025 

1,073,580 



$ 161370 

20,176 
238,630 



$ 262,654 
215,457 
218,290 
209,397 



$ 557,308 
1,579.553 
1,454,579 
1,700,109' 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FAEM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 



Bushels in 
1885. 



Bushels in 
1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Rye 

Buckwheat. 

Barlev 

Flax.! 



90,236 


96,514 


172.635 


173,971 


414.446 


731,305 


140,463 


383,152 


675,710 


2,896 


5,653 


2,660 


63 


1,794 


616 


24,986 


16 867 


8,840 


none 




141.291 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, 5,320; 1885, 8,282 Lands improved, 1880, 
41,212 acres; 1885, 101,243 acres.^ Number of farms, 1880, 1,062; 1885, 1,403. 
Average size of farms, 1880, thirty-nine acres; 1885, seventy-two acres. 
Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.75. Countv indebtedness, 
1887, $21,215. Potato crop, 1885, 47,016 bushels; wool clip, 1885, 51,043 
pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885, milk, 21,550 gallons; but- 
ter, 532,304 pounds; cheese, 3,412 pounds; eggs, 252,515 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 


Namel 


1 

P. O. Address. 




M. J. Hogan 

R. M. Smith 

I. H. Newbv 

V. P. Thielmau 

O. C. Stuart : 

M. J. Hogan 


Parker 




Parker 


Sheriff 


Parker 


Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 


Parker 

Parker 

Parker 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 479 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE AD DRESS OF COUNTY OFFICE RS IN 1887. — Continued, 



Office. 


Name. 


P. 0. Address. 


Attorney 


S. V. Jones 

Cortez Salmon 

J. H. Shurtleff 

B. C. Hamilton 

Thomas E6pie 

Joseph Allen, (chairman) 

A. W. Bacon 

S. C. Nelson 

A. Bertelsen 

J. H. Shurtleff 


Parker 


Surveyor 


Parker 








r 

1 

■ ■■< 

1 

I 


Hurley 

Spring Valley 


Commissioners 


Centreville 

Parker 

Parker 





LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 


1887. 







Hurley 


.. Phank 


Ohildstown 

Danville 


Idyhvilde 

Lost Lake 

Marion 

Parker 


..Spring Valley 

..'Swan Lake..." 


Home 





UNION COUNTY. 



Art-a, 276,480 acres. Created and organized as Cole county, in 1862, in 
honor of Austin Cole, a member of the first Territorial Legislature. Janu- 
ary 7, 1864, the Legislature rearranged the boundaries of Cole and Lin- 
coln counties, and the name of Cole county was changed to Union, with 
the following proviso included in the act, viz.: "All acts of William 
Frisbie, William Mathers, and John R. Wood, as county commissioners, M. 
M. Rich, as register of deeds, and A. R. Phillips, as judge of probate, for 
the county of Cole, are hereby legalized." 

Union county is situated in the extreme southeastern corner of the Ter- 
ritory. The Missouri river washes the southern boundary of the county, 
in a very tortuous course of about forty miles, with numerous islands and 
sand bars in its channel, and a quantity of low meadow lands parallel to 
its course. The Big Sioux river, the boundary line between Dakota and 
the state of Iowa, flows along the eastern border of Union county. It 
runs an exceedingly devious course of as much, perhaps, as 100 miles in 
going a direct distance of only forty. The principal inland stream, is 
Brule creek, which enters the county on the north, and flows south, dis- 
charging into the Big Sioux, about four miles northeast of the city of Elk 
Point. Other smaller brooks, are Union, Jim, and Green creeks. Groves of 
cottonwood, elm, willow, box-elder, and other varieties of native timber, 
fringe the bottom lands and islands of the Missouri, and grow, sparsely, 
alongthe Big Sioux. The county is nearly equally divided into rolling prairie 
and river bottom lands. The country back of the valley is an undulating 
plain, in some places rather uneven, but always excellent farming and 
grazing lands. The bottom lands along the Missouri are very broad in 
this county. Soil, a black, loamy deposit, averaging from two feet on the 
prairies or plateaus, to five or six feet in depth, on the bottoms. 

Miles of railroad in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, 
(Sioux City & Egan line,) five miles; station: Elk Point; (Sioux City & 
Yankton line,) twenty-three miles; stations: McCook, Jefferson, Elk 
Point. Total, twenty-eight miles. Chicago & Northwestern railway, (Ha- 
warden line,) seventeen miles; stations: Beresford, Aleester." Total 
miles of railroad in county, forty-five. 

Vacant public lands, none. 



There are three banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank 
of Beresford, at Beresford, Chas. A. Potter, president; R. Z. Bennett, 
cashier. Union Banking Company, at Beresford, J. Schaetzel, president; 
Henry Schaetzel, cashier. Union County Bank, at Elk Point, Geo. Schaetzel, 
cashier. 



480 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 



NEWSPAPERS. 

News, J.R. Carleton, publisher, Beresford; Union County Courier, C. 
F. Mallahan, proprietor, Elk Point; Dakota Blizzard, Stephenson Bros., 
editors and publishers, Elk Point. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Elk Point, in the south, is the county seat. It has a population of 1,200; 
school-building, valued at $4,000; catholic, methodist, congregational, 
baptist, and episcopal church edifices, valued at $10,000; court-house; 
opera house; flour-mill, valued at $30,000; creamery, valued at $7,000; 
brick-yards, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real, $42,864; 
personal, $31,097; total, $73,961. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Alcester, in the north; population, 150; schools; church organizations; 
business houses; hotels; grain ware houses, etc. Beresford, in the north- 
west; population, 400; school-building, valued at $2,000; two church edi- 
fices, valued at $2,500; creamery, etc. Jefferson, in the southeast; schools; 
church organizations; general stores; hotels, etc. McCook, in the south- 
east; population, thirty; schools; church organizations; general stores, 
etc. Richland, on the Big Sioux river; population, 300; school-building, 
valued at $1,200; methodist church edifice, valued at $2,000; flour-mill; 
general stores; hotel, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, seventy- five; school population, 2,607; 
numbei of school-houses in district, sixty-four; average monthly pay of 
teachers, males, $32.69; females, $29.03; value of all school property, 
$35,249.42; expended for school purposes during year ending June 30, 
1886, $22,234.57; cash remaining in school treasury, June 30,1886, $3,623.83; 
par amount of school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $3,632.00; average 
rate of interest paid on bonds, nine per cent.; amount of school warrants 
outstanding June 30, 1886, $2,830.23. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



i 

Year. | Horses. 


Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1880 


3,976 
4,569 
4,771 
5,141 


164 
162 
155 
143 


14.855 
15.288 
17,035 
18.917 


1,177 11.065 


* 


1885 
1886 
1887 


1,423 

1,074 

599 


11,726 
8.987 
9,335 


$ 324.411 
342,745 
5S1.,126 







VALUATION STATISTICS. 




, 


Year. 


A TJe eal ™»Mon. 


Town Lots 
valuation. 


Personal Prop-I^* 1 *^ 86 * 
erty valuation.] J^on of 


1880 




$ 554,893 
65S.531 
675,651 

1,452.886 




* $ 261,336 

90,067 

98,258 

124,807 


816,229 


1885 
1886 
1887 


234,312 
241.9Q3 
243,258 


S 60.814 
66,205 
85,218 


1,133,823 
1,182,859 
2,244,037 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 





Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushel? in 
1885. 


Bushels in 
1887. 


Wheat 


13,023 

305,189 

30.672 

1,626 

97 

2,344 

none 


131,979 

1,279,050 

405,097 

9,199 

1.122 

47,480 


294,000 




2,250,000 


Oats 


855,000 




8,500 






84,000 
34,496 


Flax 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 



pi 



Population of county, 1870, 3,507; 1880, 6,813; 1885, 8,017. Lands im- 
oved, 1880, 89,846 acres; 1885, 160,281 acres. Number of farms, 1880,1,246; 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 481 

1885, 1,356. Average size of farms, 1880, seventy-two acres; 1885, 118 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $5.97. County in- 
debtedness, 1887, $31,150. Potato crop, 1885, 57,379 bushels. Wool clip, 
1885, 9,072 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 2,921) gal- 
ons: butter, 554,343 pounds; cheese, 2,055 pounds; eggs, 201,127 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOPF1CE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Olerk 

Treasurer 

Sheriff. 


J. W. Ellis 


'Elk Point 


A. O. Rwigsrud 

Alson Bovee 


Elk Point 

i 




N. A. Kirk 


iRichland 


Probate Judge 


J< rome Mangan 




.1. W. Ellis 


...Elk Point 


Attorney 


J. \. Wallace 

W. H. II. Fate 

Win. Vinson 


Elk Point 


Superintendent of Schools 

Surveyor 


lElk Point 


JElk Point 


J. G. Conley 


[Elk Point 


Commissioners ■< 


Halver Knudson 

O. H. Williams 

Chas. LaBreche 


Brule 

Calliope. Iowa..., 

'Jefferson , 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1>87. 



Alcester Elk Point McCook... 

Beresford Emmet Richland 

Big Springs Gothland.... Spink 

Brule IJei'erson 



WAGNER COUNTY. 



Created March 9, 1883. 

Wagner is a county of western Dakota, south of the 46th parallel, and 
west of the 102d degree of longitude. It lies entirely within the boundaries 
of the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the Sioux reserva- 
tion, elsewhere in this publication. 



WALLACE COUNTY 



Created, March 9, 1883, from parts of Howard. Boundaries changed, 
Marcli 10. 1885, between Williams and Allred. Unorganized. 

Wallace county is situated in the northwestern part of the Territory, on 
the south bank of the Missouri river. Other principal stream is the 
Little Missouri — whicii flows through a few townships in the southeast. 
Nearly all of Wallace county is within the boundaries of the FortBerthold 
Indian reservation. Under an agreement with the Indians, (which 
agreement is awaiting the ratification of Congress,) nearly all of 
these lands will be opened to settlement, at an early day. No Govern- 
ment surveys have vet been made of the lands lying outside of the pres- 
ent boundaries of the Indian reservation. 

Vacant public lands, 104,320 acres. 

M ISC E LL A NEO US STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885. forty-six. Lands improved, 
1885, fifteen acres. Number of farms, 1885, two. Average size of farms, 
1885, seven and one-half acres. 



WALSH COUNTY. 

Area, 832,000 acres. Created, February 18, 1881, from parts of Pembina 
and Grand Forks. Organized, July SO, 1881, by the appointment, by the 
Governor, of the following commissioners, viz.: Geo. P. Harvey, Wm. 
Code, and B. C. Askelson. 

Walsh, a Red River valley county, is situated in the northeastern cor- 
ner of the Territory, the second county south of the International boun- 
dary line. In addition to the Red River of the North, its eastern boun- 



482 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

dary, the county is thoroughly drained, from west to east, by Park and 
Forest rivers and their numerous branches. The four considerable lakes 
in the county are, two salt lakes in the northeast, (ovciir.g&naita oi about 
600 acres; another in the southeast, covering about 1,000 acres, and one in 
Lampton township, with a surface of 200 to 300 acres. In the southeastern 
corner of the county, stretching thioagh vYalshville and a part of Pulaski 
townships, is a long, crooked bayou, probably an old channel of the Red 
River. On the Red, Park and Forest rivers, there are very considerable 
bodies of timber, and especially around the head branches of the Park 
river, on the slope of the plateau, in the northwest part of the county. 
The numerous ravines and gulches of the hilly portions in the western 
townships, have more or less limber of an inferior growth outlining their 
courses as they slope toward the plains. Surface of the county, from the 
Red River west, to the east line of range fifty-six, may be described 
as a vast plain with an imperceptible slope toward the east, and having 
a deep, rich alluvial soil, identical with that of the other counties of the 
great valley, so famous for its wheat producing capabilities. The western 
ranges of townships are more hilly and broken, rising quite sharply to- 
ward the plateau lands to the west of the valley. This western portion 
contains a few small conical hills, or buttes, and occasional ridges, or 
low hills. Nearly the whole of the county is susceptible of cultivation. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba 
railroad (Fargo-Grand Forks line), twenty-four miles; stations: Ardoch, 
Minto, Grafton, Auburn; (Langdon-Larimore line), twenty-four miles; 
stations: Paik River, Conway. Total, forty-eight miles. Northern Pacific 
railroad (Grand Forks-Pembina line), twenty-eight miles; stations: Graf- 
ton, Forest River. Total miles of railroad in the county, seventy-six. 

Vacant public lands, 04,000 acres. 

BANKS. 

There are six banks doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Ardoch, at Ardoch, E. R. Jacobi, president; F. L. Streit, cashier. First 
National Bank, at Grafton, F. T. Walker, president; J. L. Cashel, cashier. 
Grafton National Bank, at Grafton, F. R. Fulton, president; D. C.Moore, 
cashier. Bank of Park River, Henry Keller, president; C. D. Lord, 
cashier. First National Bank, at Park River, David H. Beecher, presi- 
dent; Sidney Clarke, cashier. Bank of Minto, M. S. Titus, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The News-Times, Upham & Pierce, editors and publishers, Grafton; 
Herald, W. W. Hillis, publisher, Grafton; Forest River Journal, \V. G. 

Mitchell, publisher, Minto; Park River v Gazette, Smith, editor and 

publisher, Park River. Monitor, J. R. Lyons, editor and publisher, Ar- 
doch. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Grafton, on the Park river, is the county seat. It has a population of 
2,500; two-story brick school-building, valued at $25,000; catholic, presby- 
terian, baptist, methodist, and two lutheran church edifices, valued at 
$18,000; court-house and jail, city hall, fire department houses, opera 
house, together, valued at $45,000; water-works (artesian) system, valued 
at $25,900; flour-mill, valued at $47,000; custom flour-mill; two carriage 
works; two boiler shops; pork-packing house, etc. Assessed valuation 
city property, 1886, re: J, $128,000; personal, $214,000. Total, $342,000. • 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Ardoch, in the southeast; population, 300; school-building, valued at 
$2,000; catholic, methodist, and presbyterian church edifices, valued at 
$5,000; city buildings, valued at $1,000; water-works system, valued at 
$2,000; grain elevators, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real 
and personal, $50,000. Forest River, in the south ; population fifty ; school- 
building, valued at $S00; general stores; hotels; grain elevators, etc. 
Minto, on the Forest river; population, 700; school-building, valuedat $2,- 
000; methodist, presbyter i •itholic church edifices, valued at $8,- 

000; artesian wells; flour-mill, valued at $28,000; grain elevators, etc. As- 
sessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $136,945. Park 
River, in the center, on a stream of the same name; population, 1,000; 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



483 



school-building, valued at $7,500; presbyterian, methodist, and baptist 
church edifices, valued at $9,000 ; city building ; water-power ;grain elevators, 
etc. Asssessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $144,340. 
schools, (statistics 1886. ) 
Number of organized districts, ninety-three; school population, 3,445; 
number of school-houses in district, eighty-nine; number of school- 
houses built in 1886, eight; average monthly pay of teachers, males, 
$38.58; females, $32.81; value of all school property, $82,883.80; expended 
for school purposes during the year ending June 30, 1886, 161,853.94; cash 
remaining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $17,755.18; par amount of 
school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $84,300; averege rate of interest 
paid on bonds, eight per cent. ; amount of school warrants outstanding 
June 30, 1886, $650.25. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Hones. 



Mules and 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



4,952 
5,963 
6,480 



351 
347 
330 



6,687 
7,858 
9.074 



668 



2,942 
4,182 
3,249 



S 512.696 
527,199 
591908 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Tear. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



Persona] Prop- 
erty valuation. 



Total assesied 
valuation of 
county. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



441,156 
475,873 
505,120 



S 2,163,392 
2,026,794 
2,296,173 



266,342 
321,306 
336,320 



S 533,401 
602,452 
689, #45 



S 3,475,831 
3,477,751 
3,913,446 



Table showing 
1885, and 1887. 



FARM STATISTICS. 

product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 



Bushels in 
1880. 


Bushels in 
1885. 


Bushelein 
1887. 


Wheat 


none 


2,497,699 

450 

896,720 

250 

630 

72,607 


4,987,992 

42.000 

2.031,682 

180 




none 


Oats.... 


none 


Rye 

Buckwheat 


none 

none 

none 


Barley 


229,500 



ICELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 12,775. Lands improved, 1885, 
212,001 acres. Number of farms, 1885, 2,797. Average size of farms 1885, 
seventy- six acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $4.55. 
County indebtedness, 1887, $11,34/ Potato crop, 1885, 155.501 bushels. 
Wool clip, 1885, 2,102 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
butter, 228,163 pounds; cheese, 300 pounds; eggs, 159,259 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor |E. O. Faulkner Grafton. 

Treasurer P. E. Sandager Grafton. 

Sherifl Gunder Olsen Grafton. 

Clerk District Court M. K. Marrinan Grafton. 

Probate Judge M. Raumin Grafton. 

Register of Deeds John Connolly jGrafton. 

Attorney ('. A. M. Spencer Grafton. 

Superintendent of Schools R -J* r - Evans JMinto. 

Surveyor 

Coroner 



Commissioners. 



J. B. Warren Forest River 

John McGlynch Minto 

Win. Code, "(chairman) Park River.... 

N. O. Noben Grafton 

Alex. Thomson Minto 

J. B. Sanborn Medford 

K. P. Levang Park Rirer..., 



484 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Acton 

Ardoch 

Auburn 

Conway 

Dundee 

Edinburg 

Forest River. 

Gait 

Grafton 



Lambert J Richmond 

Lampton j Saint Andrew. 

Latoua Sil vista 

Med ford [Tomes' 

Minto iVesely 

Nova Vesta 

Park River Walshville 

Pisek 

Praha 



WALWORTH COUNTY 



Area, 460,800 acres. Created, January 8, 1873, from part of Buffalo. 
Organized, May 5, 1883, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the 
following commissioners, viz.: Oliver Shannon, Frank H. Kennedy, and 
Charles O. Wilkins. 

Walworth county is situated in central Dakota, south of the 7th stand- 
ard parallel, and on the east bank of the Missouri river. The Missouri 
washes the western boundary, a flistance measuring its windings, 
of about thirty miles. The other principal streams of the county, are 
Swan creek; which flows through the southern tier of townships from 
east to west, and Bois Cache creek, which drains the northern portion of 
the county. Swan lake is a considerable body of water, covering some 
1,800 acres, in the southeast. An extensive lake bed, in township 124, 
range 77, covers about 3,000 acres. A great many small lakes, 
ponds, and marshes, are interspersed throughout the northern and eastern 
portions of the county. Numerous small streams and springs abound. 
There is quite a growth of native timber along the bottoms, and covering 
the islands, of the Missouri. The smaller streams are also fringed with 
scattering groves. Surface of the major part of Walworth county, back of 
the Missouri bluffs, consists of elevated rolling prairie, ortableland. The 
south central portion of the county is covered by a range of bluffs and 
conical hills, generally well watered, and excellent lor grazing purposes. 
The bluffs along the Missouri are from 100 to 200 feet high, cut by wide 
ravines and valleys along the creeks. The bottom lands between the 
river and the bluffs, are from one to four miles wide, and exceedingly fer- 
tile. Soil of the county, generally, the rich, alluvial deposit, of the Mis- 
souri slope. 

Vacant public lands, 111,210 acres. ^ 

BANKS. 

There are two banks doing business in this county, as follows: Wal- 
worth County Bank, at Bangor. Bank of LeBeau, at LeBeau, R. H. 
Fairbairn, president; W. H. Burns, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Pioneer, C. E. Cobb, editor and publisher, Bangor; Rustler, W. G. 
Brown, publisher, Bangor; Central Dakotian, F. K. Griffin, editor and 
publisher, Bangor. Pioneer, F. J. Bowman, editor and publisher, Scran- 
ton. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Bangor, in the center, is the county seat. It has a population of sev- 
enty-five, school-building, valued at $2,000; court-house, valued at $1,500; 
church organizations; business houses; hotels, etc. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

LeBeau, on the Missouri river; population, fifty; school-building, valued 
at $3,300; general stores; hotels; church organizations, etc. Assessed val- 
uation town property, 1886, real and personal, $40,000. Scranton, on the 
Missouri river; school-building, valued at $500; general stores; hotel, etc. 
Assessed valuation town property, 1886, real and personal, $35,000. 
SCHOOLS, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, ten; school population, 231; num- 
ber of school-houses in district, ten; number of school-houses built in 
1886, six; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $37.50; females, $29.44; 
value of all school property, $7,287.00; expended for school purposes dur- 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA, 



-185 



ing year ending June 30, 1886, 15.708.34; cash remaining in school treasury, 
June 30, 1886, $575.73; par amount of school bonds outstanding June 30. 
1886, $8,700.00; average rate oi interest paid on bonds, seven per cent.; 
amount of school warrants outstanding June 30, 1886, $2,960.69. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



1885 
1886 
1887 



Year. 


| Horses. 


[Mules and 
Asses. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1885 
1886 
1887 


474 
632 

649 


42 
36 
44 


1.011 
1.503 
1,889 


258 

322. 

575 


128 
294 
291 


3 73.448 
97,240 
96,255 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots Personal Prop- ^afnSfof 
valuation. erty valuation. I* "ut 



48.148 
69 309 

83.482 



$ 193 880 
280.575 
275.700 



9 43.408 
44,288 
25.031 



$ 66,373 
67.045 
66,042 



S 377.109 
489.148 
463,028 



FARM STATISTICS. 



Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in '■ Bushels in 
1885. 1887. 



Wheat none 3,9C6 165,750 

Corn 1,850 10,010 153,000 

Oats none 11.766 153,750 

Rye none 165 

Buckwheat none 105 

Barlcv none 160 17,100 

Flax none ! 27.000 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, forty-six ; 1885, 1,412. Lands improved, 1880, 
eighty-five acres; 1885, 20,299 acres. Number of farms, 1880, two; 1885, 800. 
Average size of farms, 1880, forty-two and one-halt acres; 1885, twenty-five 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.30. County indebt- 
edness, 1887, 18.742. Potato crop, 1885, 7,253 bushels. Wool clip, 1885, 
2,202 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: butter, 22,867 pounds; 
eggs, 9,443 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICiC ADDRESS nF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Oleik T. G. Orr Bangor 

Treasurer B. F. Elliott Bangor 

sheriff H. Webster Bangor 

Clerk District Court H. C. Grupe Bangor 

Probate Judge James R. Ho\> ell ; Rlueblanket. 

Register of Deeds T. G. Orr Bangor 

Attorney W, B. Burr Bangor 

Superintendent of Schools G. J. -chellenger Bangor 

Surveyor I. Budlam Rangor 

Coroner O. J. Sturgeon Walworth 

Assessor '.. T. J. Thompson Walworth 

( Jacob Elfnick Bangor 

Commissioners < Ole O. Romslow Walworth 

( H. H. Mason Bowdle 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



Bangor Pcranton Walworth. 

Blueblanket Smalley j 

Le Beau Theodore ' 



486 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA 
WARD COUNTS . 



Created in 1885, from parts of Stevens, Renville and Wallace. Bound- 
aries changed, March 11, 1887, part from McHenry. 

Ward county is situated in northern Dakota, between the 101st and 102d 
degrees ot west longitude, and the second county south of the Interna- 
tional boundary line. Principal stream is the Souris or Mouse river, which 
enters the county on the northwest, and flows through diagonally, passing 
out at the extreme southeast. The DeLacs river, an important "tributary 
of the Mouse, waters a few of the northwestern townships. Numerous 
lakes and ponds of good water are found in the Coteaus. These lakes 
vary in size, from five to 500 acres. Heavy timber, including the oak, 
ash, aspen, box-elder, and other varieties, line the banks of the Mouse. 
An abundance of coal is .found in Ward county. Surface of the eastern 
and northern portions, extensive prairie and river valley. The Coteaus 
of the Plateau du Missouri, cross the southwestern part of the count}' — on 
a line parallel with, and about twenty miles west of the Mouse. The Co- 
teaus have the usual hilly, broken surface of well- watered lands, covered 
with nutritious pasturage — extending several miles in width; beyond 
which, the country again descends to a level plain. Between the Co- 
teaus and the Mouse, the country is high and rolling. The valley of the 
Mouse is from one-half to two miles in width, hemmed in by steep and 
rugged bluffs. With its rich soil, abundant supply of pure water, perfect 
shelter, and cheap fuel — the county offers great inducements to farmers 
and stock growers. 

Miles of railroad in county: St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, 
forty-two miles; stations: Minot, Siding 10, Siding 11, Siding 12, Siding 13. 

Vacant public lands, 701,600 acres. 



There is one bank doing business in this county, as follows: Bank of 
Minot, at Minot, E. A. Mears, president. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Times, E. J. Taylor, editor and publisher, Minot; The Tribune, 
Charles E. Gregory, ed"itor and publisher, Minot; The Reporter, Charles 
Blair, editor and manager, Burlington. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Burlington, in the center, is the county seat. It has a population of 150; 
school-building, valued at $700; public buildings, valued at 12,000; brick- 
yard ; court-house and jail contracted for. An excellent quality of lig- 
nite coal is mined near the town. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

_ Miaot, on the Mouse river; population, 1,000; schools; church organiza- 
tions; division car-shops, employing several hundred men: business 
houses; hotels, etc. An abundance of lignite coal is found in the vicinity 
of Minot, 







LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 






Year. 


Horses. 


Mules and| 

Asse.°. 


Cattle. 


Sheep. 


Swine. 


Valuation. 


1886 

1887 


94 
297 


19 


1.792 
2.589 


44 
730 


•108 
166 


$ 40,336 
69,391 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valnaiinn ! Town L ots j Personal Prop- To J*} t *"H" e A 
\aluation. , valuatiou> jerty valuation. l* l ™£ on ° f 



1886 
1887 



2.120 



3.950 
7,890 



$ 27 ,395 



$ 14,919 
69.415 



$ 59.205 
! 174.091 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



487 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. ______^__ 

i Bushels in Bushels in l Bushels in 
1880. 1880. ' 1887. 



Wheat 

Corn 

Oats 

Kye 

Buck \v heat. 
Barlev 



none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 



2,445 
730 

1,335 

8 

47 



9.000 

4.500 

60,000 



4.200 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 257. Lands improved, 1885, 
3,028 acres. Number of farms, 1885, eighty-nine. Average size of farms, 
1885, thirty-four acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $3.73. 
Potato crop, 1885, 4,176 bushels. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: 
butter, 11,840 pounds; cheese, 400 pounds; eggs, 2,697 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name. 



P. O. Address. 



County Clerk 

Treasurer 

Sheriff 

Clerk District Court 

Probate Judge 

Register of Deeds 

Attorney 

Superintendent of School?.. 

Surveyor 

Coroner 

Assessor 



Commissioners. 



L. S. Foot 

Michael Muir 

A. T. Tracy 

James Johnson 

John Bouholzer... 

L. 8. Foot 

Chas. Gregory 

Burt L. Griffith.. .. 

H. C. Salisbury 

Geo. Carpenter 

O. C. Benson 

Chris. Rasmus-en 

Wm. Nack 

Denis Brogan 



Burlington.. 
Burlington. 
Burlington . 
Burlington . 
Burlington . 
Burlington . 

Minot 

Minot 

Burlington 

Minot 

Burlington . 
Burlington . 
Burlington 
'Minot 



Burlington | Echo 



LIST OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 

~ | Minot 



1887. 



Saint Cail. 



WASHABAUGH COUNTY. 

Created March 9, 1883. 

Washabaugh county is situated in southern Dakota, west of the Mis- 
souri, and south of White river. It is entirely within the boundaries of 
the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the Sioux reservation 
elsewhere in this publication. 

WASHINGTON COUNTY. 

Created March 9, 1883. 

Washington county is situated in southwestern Dakota. It lies entirely 
within the boundaries of the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article 
on the Sioux reservation elsewhere in this publication. 

WELLS COUNTY. 



Formerly Gingras. Created January 4, 1873. Name was changed Feb- 
ruary 2(3, 1881. Boundaries changed in 1883, and again in 1885. Organized 
June 25. 1881, by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following 
commissioners, Viz.: Thos. R. Williams, Joseph P. Cox, and Marshall 
Brinton. 

Wells county is situated in northern Dakota, at the very head waters 
of the James river, between the 47th and 48th degrees of latitude. The 
Shevenne river drains the northern townships. The James river takes it 
rise in the middle-western portions. The Pipestem waters the southern 



ss 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



half of the county. Timber along the streams is comparatively light, 
though some fine groves border on the Sheyenne. Several lakes are scat- 
tered over the area of Wells county. Surface, generally, undulating, up- 
land prairie — some portions quite level. The bottom lands, along the 
Sheyenne, average about half a mile in width. The southwestern part of 
the countv is broken by the low hills, and uneven surface of the Coteaus 
— the most noticeable elevation of which is the majestic, towering peak, 
in the southern boundary, known as the Hawk's Nest. Its slopes are 
well timbered. A large portion of the lands in Wells county are admira- 
bly adapted to farming, and the growing of stock Soil, a dark, deep 
loam, beneath which is a stratum of clay sub-soil, containing shelly, calca- 
reous marl. 

Miles of railroad in county: Northern Pacific railroad, (Jamestown- 
Northern line.) 6.8 miles: station: Sykeston. 

Vacant public lands, 365,550 acres. Bismarck land district, 216,000 
acres; Devils Lakeland district, 150,560 acres. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Sykeston, on the Pipestem river, is the county seat. Population, 200; 
school-building, valued at $900; church edifice, valued at $900: business 
houses; hotels; grain warehouses, etc. Assessed valuation town property, 
1836, real, $20,000; personal, $50,000; total $70,000. 
schools, (statistics 1886.) 

Number of organized townships, five; school population, eighty-eight; 
number of school-houses in district, two; number of school- houses 
built in 1886, one; average monthly pay of teachers, males, 
$42.50; .females, $36.00; value of all school property, $1,887.62; ex- 
pended for school purposes during year ending June 30, 1886, $2,009.13; 
cash remaining in school treasury, June 30, 1886, $334.87; par amount 
of school bonds outstanding June 30, 1886, $1,200.00; average rate of in- 
terest paid on bonds, eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstand- 
ing June 30, 1886, $8,872.47. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Horses. 



Mules and! 

i Asses. 



Cattle. 



Sheep. 



Swine. 



Valuation. 



1887 



187 
332 
421 



160 
320 
567 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



274 
147 



$ ly,760 
31,860 

44,840 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



(Personal Prop- 1 T ^ »*eBsed 

[erty valuation. |, ™X 



1885 
1886 
1887 



136.728 
159,807 
247,950 



$ 443.850 
520.735 
716.330 



$ 34.045 
35.305 

37.080 



$ 16.360 

21.6:53 

22.870 



$ 514,015 
609,563 
821.140 



FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in Bushels in Bushels in 

1880. 1885. 1887. 



Wheat. 
Corn.... 

Oats 

Rye 

Barlev. 
Flax.:.. 



none 
none 
none 
none 
none 
none 



100.553 

' 25 

73.612 

600 

1,030 



220,320 

60 

76,164 



375 

50 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, none; 1885, 285. Lands improved, 1885, 
13,051 acres. Number of farms, 1885, US. Average size of farms, 1885, 
seventy-six acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $2.88. 
County indebtedness, 1887, |7,050. Potato crop, 1S85, 4.700 bushels. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 489 

Dairy and other farm products, 1885: butter, 4,400 pounds; eggs, 2,- 
585 dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 

Office. Name. P. O. Address. 



County Clerk C. V. Brown Sykestou. 

Treasurer D. T. Davis Sykestou. 

Sheriff J. J. O'Counell Sykestou. 

Clerk District Court Newton A'.how sykestou. 

Probate Judge H. B. < hess Sykest u. 

Register ot Di eds ('. V. Brown Sykestou. 

Superintendent of Schools Marshall Brinton Sykestou. 

Coroner Seymour Lee |sykeston. 

Assessor J. P. Hardy jSykeston. 

E. Spokesrield (chairman) Sykestou. 

Commissioners ( r Ceo. W. Foster [Sykeston. 

Mark Kady 'Sykestou. 



LIS1 OF POSTOFFICES IN COUNTY, 1887. 



SYKESTON. 



WILLIAMS COUNTY. 



Created, January 8. 1873, from original territory. Boundaries changed, 
1885, parts to Mercer. Dunn, and Wallace. Unorganized. 

Williams county is situated in northern Dakota, north of the 47th de- 
gree of latitude, on the west and south banks of the Missouri river. In 
addition to the Missouri river, which forms the northern boundary, Wil- 
liams county is watered by the Little Missouri through the north, and 
by the Big Knife, and its numerous affluents — flowing in an easterly 
course through the central and southern portions. Surface, high, rolling, 
and level, even prairie, river and creek bottoms, and bluffs. The Mis- 
souri river, adjacent to the northern boundary of Williams county, has 
the usual characteristics of broken bluffs, ravines and gorges, creeks and 
narrow valleys. The river bottoms are fringed with a considerable 
growth of native timber, — and also the numerous islands of the latter 
stream. Williams county contains a huge amount of excellent farming 
and grazing lands. The surface and soil compare favorably with that of 
neigh boring counties. 

Vacant public lands, 337,920 acres. 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1880, fifteen; 1885, thirty-six. 



YANKTON COUNTY. 



Area, 337,020 acres. Created April 10, 1862. Organized the same year 
by the appointment, by the Governor, of the following commissioners, 
viz.: O. B. Wheeler, Justus To wnsend, and Henry Bradlev. 

Yankton county is situated in the southeastern part of Dakota, on the 
Nebraska boundary line, at the point where the James river adds its 
volume to that of the Missouri. The Missouri river washes the southern 
boundary of the county its entire length, and the James flows through 
it, diagonally, from- northwest to southeast. There are several smaller 
streams in the county. In the northeastern part there are many 
small lakes and ponds. Groves of native timber, consisting principally 
of cottonwood, elm, box-elder, willow, and oak, are found in considerable 
bodies along the bottom lands, and on the islands of the Missouri river. 
The course ot the James is fringed wi'h a scattering growth of trees. Al- 
though Yankt >n county lies in two great river valleys, but a small propor- 
tion consists of what is generally" known as "bottom land." The surface 
is mostly beautiful, rolling prairie, with now and then a stream of water 
or a little lake. The Missouri river bottoms vary in width from one mile 
to several, and are extremely fertile. The valley of the James averages, 
perhaps, a mile in width of equally g >od land. A high range of bluffs 



490 RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 

borders the Missouri river above Yankton city, and the James river is 
flanked on either side by lesser elevations. Soil, a deep, loam ; strong, 
warm, and quick; dries easily on the surface, but holds moisture below; 
sub-soil, clay. Yankton county is well watered and thoroughly drained. 
Quarries of chalk-rock, and deposits of fine, brick clay are contained 
within in its limits. 

Miles of railway in county: Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway 
(Sioux City & Mitchell line,) thirty-one miles; stations: Gayville, Yank- 
ton, Utica, Lesterville. Chicago & Northwestern railway, ( Yankton-Cen- 
tre ville line,) fourteen miles; stations: Yankton, Voiin. Total miles of 
railroad in county, forty-five miles. 

Vacant public lands, none. 

BANKS. 

There are five banks doing business in this county, as follows: First Na- 
tional Bank, at Yankton, J. C. McVay, president; W. H. McVay, cashier. 
Mortgage Bank, at Yankton, E. A. Bruce, cashier. Yankton Bank, at 
Yankton. McKinney & Scougal, at Yankton, R. W. Burns, cashier. 
Yankton Savings Bank, A. W. Howard, president; M. T. Wooley, cashier. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

Daily Press and Dakotaian, Bo wen & Kingsbury, editors and publishers, 
Yankton. Telegram, John L. Pennington, Jr., editor and publisher, 
Yankton. Dakoti Herald, W. S. Elder, editor and publisher, Yankton. 
Globe, L. D. Cavalier, editor and publisher, Yankton. Dakota 
Freie-Presse, John C. Wenzlaff, editor and publisher, Yankton. \V. C. 
T. XL, Miss Louisa Tanner, editor, Yankton. Tribune, Tribune Publish- 
ing Association, editors and publishers, Yankton. Dakota Post, Paul 
Harmann, editor, Yankton. Student, F. B. Riggs, editor, Yankton. 

COUNTY SEAT. 

Yankton, on the Missouri rivei, is the county seat. It has a population 
of 4,500; five school buildings, valued at 125,030; seven church edifices, 
valued at $30,000; court-house and jail, valued at $16,0)0; water-works 
(artesian) system, valued at $50,000; electric light plant projected ;flour-mill; 
woolen-mill; pressed-brick manufactory; two brick-yards; linseed oil- 
mill; tow mill; two breweries; foundry and machine shops. Total amount 
invested in manufactories, $500,000. The congregational college, located 
at Yankton, is described on page 215 of this publication. Assessed val- 
uation city property, 1886, real, $500,000; personal, $150,000. Total, 
$650,000. For description of the Dakota hospital for the insane, Yankton, 
see page 23 L. 

OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Gayville, in the southeast; school building, valued at $1,000; artesian 
well; general stores; grain warehouses, etc. Jamesville. on the James 
river; population, fifty; school building, valued at $750; flour- mi 11. valued 
at $8,000; general stores, etc. Lesterville, in the west; population, 200; 
school building, valued at $600; church organizations; business houses; 
grain warehouses, hotels, etc. 

SCHOOLS, (STATISTICS 1886.) 

Number of organized districts, fifty-nine; school population, 3,631; 
number of school-houses in district, sixty-one; number ot school-houses 
built in 1886, nine ; average monthly pay of teachers, males, $32.00; females, 
$30.00; value of all school property $60,515.00; expended for school pur- 
poses during the year ending June 30, 1886, $30,412.56; cash remaining in 
school treasury, June 30, 18S6, $4,667.20; par amount of school bonds 
outstanding June 30, 1886, $22,250.00; average rate of interest paid on 
bonds, eight per cent.; amount of school warrants outstanding .Tune 30, 
1886, $341.71. 

LIVE STOCK STATISTICS. 

Year. Horses. Ml A s| e s nd ; Cattle - I Sheep. Swine. ' Valuation. 



1880 2.952 77 9.737 4 724 5,836 * 

18S5 3,600 100 13.070 9,180 6,482 $ 312,637 

1886 4.071 120 15,675 7.008 6,152 309,105 

1887 4,521 109 15,740 4 960 9,211. 399,695 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA. 



491 



VALUATION STATISTICS. 



Year. 



Acres Real 
Estate. 



Valuation. 



Town Lots 
valuation. 



t^o^.i tj,.™ I Total assessed 
Personal Prop- valuation of 
erty valuation. 1 



counts'. 



1880 

1885 
1886 
1887 



258.547 

265,994 

276.249 



$ 1,182.638 

913 720 

972,195 

1,444 235 



$ 661,095 
660.605 
951.913 



* S 449,465 
291,299 
300,200 
349,090 



S 1,582.103 
2.178.751 
2,242.105 
3,144,933 



* 1880, personal property includes live stock. 

FARM STATISTICS. 

Table showing product of field crops, on farms in county, for years 1880, 
1885, and 1887. 



Bushels in 
1880. 



Bushels in 

1885. 



Bushels in 
1887. 



Wheat 76,741 81,349 217,456 

Corn ' 220,953 418,393 866.838 

Oats 120.644 2*1.790 484,128 

Rye 590 2,071 3.280 

Buckwheat 61 391 300 

Barley ; 11,127 8 853 11.822 

Flax i ! 1 72,513 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 

Population of county, 1870, 2,097; 1880, 8,390; 1885, 9,404, Lands im- 
proved, 1880, 47,017 acres; 1885, 144,519 acres. Number of farms, 1880, 
,S79; 1885, 925. Average size of farms, 18S0, fifty-four acres; 1885, 156 
acres. Average assessed valuation per acre, 1887, $5.23. Countv in- 
debtedness. 18S7, $348,448. Potato crop, 1885, 40,524 bushels. Wool clip, 
1885, 50,070 pounds. Dairy and other farm products, 1885: milk, 
1,069 gallons; butter, 323,024 pounds; cheese, 4,801 pounds; eggs, 110,397 
dozen. 

NAME AND POSTOFFICE ADDRESS OF COUNTY OFFICERS IN 1887. 



Office. 



Name . 



P. O. Address. 



Auditor Christian Hage 

Trea«urer , Herman E Herman 

Sheriff Frederick Kin eel 

Clerk District ourt E. G. Edgerton 

Probata Judge Leonidas Congleton 

Rejristur of Deeds Christian Hameister 

Attorney L. K. French 

Superintendent of Schools N. M. Hills. 

Surveyor Edward Palmer 

Coroner R. B. McGlumphy 

Assessor Ellery H. Duun 

Wm. H. Edmunds, (chairman). 



<jornraissioners. 



Ole Kjeldseth., 
James Donahue- 
John ' >. Aaseth... 
Anton L. PeifTVr 



Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Yankton... 
Wakonda. 
Yankton... 
Gayville... 
Lakeport. 





LIST OF POSTOFF1CES IN COUNTY 


1887. 


Gayville 


Lesrerville 

Mnrindahl 

Mayrield 

Norway 


.. Volin 


Jamesville 

LaGr ngc 


.. Walshtown 

.. Yankton 


Lakeport 


.. Z'skov 



ZIEBACH COUNTY. 



Created February 10, 1877. 

Ziebach county is situated in southwestern Dakota, entirely within the 
boundaries of the Great Sioux Indian reservation. See article on the 
Si >ux reservation elsewhere in this publication. 



INDEX. 



A 

Aberdeen land district, vacant land 

in, etc 291 

Acknowledgements 6 

Acknowledgements, legal 304 

Acreage in farms, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 

1885 266 

Admission of Dakota as a state, legis- 
lation in regard to 17- ,19 

Agencies, Indian 250-251 

Agricultural college 197-199 

Agricultural products 78-151 

Albuminoids in wheat, comparative 

table 78 

Albuminoids in corn, comparative 

table 97 

Alfalfa 107-110 

Alliance, faimers 249 

Allotments in severalty to Indians.. 253 256 

Allred county 315 

Ail Saints' school 219-220 

Altitudes, table of 189-190 

Analyses, artesian wafers 185 

Analysis, coal (lignite) ]60 

Analyses, corn 97 

Analysis of water from the Hot 

Springs 163 

Analyses; wheat 78 

Arbor Day 127-128 

Area of Dakota, comparative tables... 

26- 27 

Area by counties 315-491 

Area public lauds disposed of, etc 292 

Artesian wells 179-188 

Artesian wells, analyses of waters of... 18.3 
Artesian wells, table showing depth. 

pressure, etc 186-187 

Artesian weils, record ol strata pene- 
trated by 188 

Arvilla academy 221 

Assessed valuation of the Territory, 

1879 to 1887 264 

Assignments, legal 304 

Attachment, etc., exemptions from 291 

Attachments, legal, process of 304 

Average assessed valuation, by Coun- 
ties 315 491 

Average size oi farms, by counties.. 315-491 

Augustana college 222 

Aurora county 315 

B 

Banks, comparative table of 302 

Banks, by counties 315-491 

Banking institutions 300-305 

Barley 101-102 

Barley crop, i860. 1870, 1880, 1885, and 

1887 101 

Barnes county 317 

Beadle county 319 



Beets, sugar 111-112 

Benson county 321 

Hillings county 323 

Bismarck land district 291 

Black Hills, the 165-178 

Black Hills, an article b> Prof. F. R. 

Carpenter, A. M 167-177 

Black Hills, buildingstone in 176 

Black Hills, copper in 176 

Black Hills, fire and potter's clay in.... 177 

Black Hills, gold and silver 170-173 

Black Hiils, gypsum in 176 

Black Hills, mica in 176 

Black Hills, tin in 173-176 

Black Hills, vield of precious metals 

from 1877 'to 1887 178 

Blue grass 107-110 

Bonhomme county 324 

Boremau county 826 

Bottineau county 326 

Bowman county 328 

Brick clay 163-164 

Brookings county 328 

Brown county 330 

Brule county 333 

Buckwheat 101-102 

Buckwheat crop, 1860. 1870, 1880, 1885, » 

f-nd 1887 102 

Buildingstone 157-159, 176 

Buffalo county 335 

Buford countv 337 

Buildings, public 197-215,225-234 

Bui dings, public, amount invested in.. 233 

Burdiek county 337 

Burleigh county 337 

Butte county...! 339 

Butter, product in 1885, by counties 315 491 

c 

Campbell county 340 

Capital building Front ispiece 

Capital of the Territory 225 

Carpenter. Prof. F. ft., article on Black 

Hills by, 167-177 

Cass county 342 

Cattle, comparative table 130 

CaUle, number in United States 149 

Cattle, cost of raising 146-149 

Cattle, average value 149 

Cavalier county 3-15 

Cement 103-164 

Centennial award on wheat 79 

Charles Mix countv 346 

Cheese, product in 1885, by countie 315-491 

(■hot* au county 348 

Chutch countv 348 

Chuich statistics 238 

Cities and towns, growth ol 10 

C'ark countv 349 

Clav, brick..! 163-164, 177 

Clay, potter's 163-164, 177 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA.— INDEX. 



4«): 



Clay, fire 177 

Clav countv 350 j 

Climate of Dakota 43- 71 

Climate, health fulness of 67-71 

Coal 159-161 

Coal, map showing area of. 160-161 i 

Coal, analysis of 160 

Codington county - 352 

College, agricultural 197-199 

College, Ail Saints 219 220 

College, Augustana 222 

Colleges, commercial and business 222 

College, cleat mute 213-215 

College, Fargo 221 

College. Groton 218-219 

College, Jamestown 221 

College. Madison normal 204-207 

College of mines and mining 210-213 

Coll ge, Red field 220-221 

College. Spearfish normal 208-209 

College, Yankton 215-216 

Commercial laws 303-305 

Commuted homesteads 285 

Councilmen. number of 20 

Counties of Dakota 315-491 

Allred county .* 315 

Aurora county 315 

Barnes countv 317 

Beadle county, 319 

Benson county 321 

Billings county 323 

Bonhomme county 324 

Boreman county 326 

Bottineau county 326 

Bowman county 328 

Brookings county 328 

Brown county 330 

Brule county 333 

Buffalo county 335 

Buford county 337 

Burdick county 337 

Bur'eigh county 337 

Butte county 339 

Campbell county 340 

Cass county 342 

Cavalier county 345 

Charles Mix county 346 

Choteau county 348 

Church county 348 

Clark county 349 

Clay county 350 

Codington county 352 

Custer county 355 

Davison county 357 

Day county 359 

Deiauo county 360 

Deuel county « 361 

Dewey county 363 

Dickey county 363 

Douglas county 365 

Dunn county 366 

Eddy county 367 

Fdrnuuds county 368 

Emmons county 370 

Ewing county 372 

Fall River county 372 

Faulk county 373 

Flannery county 375 

Foster countv 375 

Garfield county 377 

Grand Forks county 377 

Grant, county 380 

Gregory county 382 

Griggs county t- 382 

Hamlin county 383 

Hand count> 385 

Hanson county 387 

Harding county 389 

Hettinger county 389 

Hughes county 390 



I Hutchinson countv 392 

Hyde county 394 

Jackson county 396 

Jerauld county 396 

Kidder county 398 

Kingsbury county 4<i0 

Fake county 402 

LaMoure county 404 

Lawrence county 406 

Lincoln county 409 

Logan county 411 

Lugenbeel county 412 

Lyman county 412 

Marshall county : 412 

Martin county..! 414 

McCook county 414 

Mc Henry county 416 

Mclniosh county 418 

McKenzie county 419 

McLean county 419 

McFherson county 421 

Mercer county 423 

Meyer county'. 425 

Miner county 425 

Minnehaha county 427 

Moody county 430 

Morton county 432 

Mountraille county 434 

Nelson county '. 434 

Nowlin county 436 

Oliver county 437 

Pembina county 438 

jrenniugton county 440 

Pierce county 443 

Potter county 443 

Pratt, county 445 

Presho county 445 

Pyatt county 445 

Ramsey county 445 

Ransom county 448 

Renville county 450 

Richland county 450 

Rinehart county 452 

Roberts county.! 453 

Rolette countv 454 

Sanborn county 456 

Sargent county 458 

Schnasse county 461 

Scobey county 461 

Shannon county 461 

Sheridan c only 461 

Spink county....' 461 

Stanley County.... 464 

Stark county 464 

Steele county 466 

Sterling county 468 

Stevens county 408 

Stutsman county 468 

Sully county 471 

Todd county 472 

Towner county 473 

Traill county 474 

Tripp county 476 

Turner county 477 

Union county 479 

Wagner county 481 

Wallace county 481 

Walsh county 481 

Walworth county 484 

Ward county 486 

Washabaugh county 487 

Washington county 487 

Wells county 487 

Williams county 489 

Yankton county 489 

Ziebach county 491 

Counties, indebtedness of... 267-268,315-491 
County indebtedness per capita, com- 
parative table of. 269 



494 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA.— INDEX. 



County officers, name and postoffice. 

address 315-491 

County, postoffices in each 315-491 

county-seat of each county 315-491 

Corn 93- 98 

Corn, analyses of. comparative table... 97 
Corn crop of 1886, comparative table.... 94 
Corn crop in 1860, 1870, 1880, 1885, and 

1887 96 

Copper 176 

Courts, district, time and place of 

holding 307-309 

Courts, summary of the powers oi.. 306 307 

Crops of 1887 9-10,315-491 

Custer county 355 



D 



Dairy products, 1885, by counties... 315- 

Dakota university 216- 

Davison county 

Day county 

Deadwood land district 

Deaf mutes, school tor '213- 

Delano county 

Delegates in Congress, names of. 

Deuel county 

Devils Lake land district 

Dewey county 

Dickey county 

District courts, time and place of 

holding 3o7- 

Districts, Legislative, number of. 

Division oT the Territory, legislation 

on tne subject of 17- 

Douglas county 

Dunn county 



E 



Eddy county 

Edmunds county 

Educational institutions 191 

Education of the Indians 222- 

Eggs, product in 1885, by counties. 315- 

Emmons county 

Ewihg county 

Executions, leg-'] 

Exemptions, legal 294- 

Extraets from the United States stat- 
utes 297- 



Fall River county 

Fargo college 

Fargo land district 

Farms, acreage of, in 1860, 1870, 1880, 

and 1885 

Farm animals 129- 

Farm auiinals, number and average 

value, in United States 

Farmers alliance 

Farms, average assessed valuation per 

acre fromlSSl to 1887 

Farms, average size of, in each county, 

315 
Farms, average Territorial tax levy, 

1881-1887 

Farms in each county 315 

Farm machinery .value of, in 1860, 1870, 

1880 and 1885 : 

Farm statistics of each county 315 

Farms, value of, in i860, 1870, 1880, and 

1885 

Faulk county 

Final proof, rules governing 

Financial condition of the Territory... 

260- 
Flannery county 



491 
217 
357 
359 
292 
2? 5 
3 -.0 
20 
361 
292 
363 
363 

•309 
20 

19 
865 

366 



3i.:S 
224 
224 
491 
370 
31 2 
305 
296 

299 



372 
221 



266 
■151 

149 

249 

266 

491 

266 
491 

266 
•491 

265 
373 

284 

■270 
375 



Flax 99-100 

Fort Berthold Indian reservation 259 

Foster couuty 375 

Fruit culture 113-117 



Garfield county 377 

Gas, natural 153-157 

Geography of Dakota 25 

Geology oi Black Hills 167-177 

Geology of Black Hills, cross section 

showing 169 

Geology of Black Hills, map showing... 

176-177 

Geology of Dakota 29- 31 

Gold and silver 170-173 

Gold and silver, product 1877 to 1887 178 

Government land laws 280-287 

Government land office^, etc 291-29S 

Government surveys, explanation of.... 

281-290 
Governors of the Territory, names of... 20 

Grand Forks county '. 377 

Grand Forks land district 293 

Granite 157-159, 176 

Grant county 380 

Great Sioux Indian reservation 256-25* 

Gregory county 382 

Griggs county 382 

Growth of citie s and towns 10 

Groton college 218-219 

Gypsum 176 

H 

Hamlin county 383 

Hand county..". 385 

Hanson county 387 

Hay, native and cultivated 107-110 

Hav, crop of, in 1860, 1870, 1880, 1885, :. J 

and 1887 110 

Harding county 389 

Healthiulness of the climate 67- 71 

Hettinger county •. 389 

Historical 16- 24 

History, early 20- 24 

History of first attempts at naviga- 
tion 72- 75 

Hogs, number in 1886, comparative ta- 
ble 144 

Hogs, number in each county 315-491 

Hogs, number in U. S., and average 

value 149 

Horses, cost of raising 148-149 

Horses, number in 1886, comparative 

table 134 

Horses, number in each county 315-491 

Horses, number in U. S., and average 

value 149 

Homestead, commuted 285 

Homestead law 282 

Homestead law, soldiers 283 

Homestead, relinquishments of 286 

Hops 106 

Hospital for the insane, James- 
town 227-229 

Hospital for the insane, Yankton 231 

Hot Springs 161-163 

Hot Springs, analysis of water of 163 

Hughes county 390 

Huron land district 293 

Hutchinson county 392 

Hyde county 



I 



Indebtedness of each county. 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA.— INDEX 



495 



267-268, 81P-491 
Indebtedness, comity per capita, com- 
parative table 269 

Indian agencies 2">1 

Indians, allotments in severalty to.. 253-256 

Indian education 222-224 

Indian population 251 

Indian reservations 250-259 

Indian reservations, area of 292 

Indian reservation, Fort Herthold 259 

Indian reservation. Great Sioux.... 256-258 
Indian reservation, Turtle Mountain... 

258-259 

Information lor settlers 810-812 

Insane hospital, Jamestown.... 227-229 

Insane hospital, Yankton 231 

Immigration 8-9 

Important towns in each county.. 315-491 
Improved lands in each county.'.... 315-491 

Insolvency, law of 304 

Interest, legal rate 303 

Introductory 7- 15 



Jackson count*- 396 

Jamestown college 221 

Jasper 157-159 

Jerauld county 396 

Judges of district courts 5, 307-3o9 

Judgments at law 305 

Judicial, districts, etc 307-3 ;9 

Judiciary, powers of U.e 306-307 



Kidder county 398 

Kingsbury county 400 



Lake county 402 

Lakes and livers 72- 76 

LaMoure county 404 

Land, average assessed valuation per 

acre, 1881 to 1887 266 

Lands, average assessed valuation by 

counties 315-491 

Land districts 291-2y3 

Lands disposed of, area 292 

Land entries 271-277 

Land entries, for year ending June 

30, 18S7 \ 272 

Lands entered from 1875 to 1887, by 

years 276 

Lands improved in each comity.... 315-491 

Land laws 280-287 

Land subject to entry, area ot 292 

Land surveys, how made 288-290 

Lands taken up by settl rs, compara- 
tive table of 277 

Lands vacant 275 

Lawrence county 4u6 

Laws, commercial 303-305 

Laws, land 280-287 

Legislative districts, number of 20 

Legislature, sessions of 20 

Lew, average Territorial tax, 1881 to 

1887 266 

Lew, sale, etc., exemptions from 294 

Lignite 159-161 

Lignite, analysis of 160 

Lignite, map showing known area.. 160-161 

Limestone 176 

Limitations, law of 305 

Lincoln county 409 

Live stock 129-151 

Live stock, cost of raising cattle 146-149 

Live stock, cost of raising horses 149 



Live stock, cost of raising sheep 139 

Live stock, growing interest in 15 

Live stock, hogs, comparative table of.. 144 
Live stock, horses, comparative 

tableof 134 

Live stock, mules, comparative table of 140 
Live stock, number and value of, in 

United States 149 

Live stock, oxen, milch cows, etc., 

comparative table of 130 

Live stock, sheep, comparative table of 147 

Live stock statistics of each county 

815-491 
Live stock, value of in 1860 1870, 1880, 

1885, and 1887 129 

Logan county 411 

Lugenbeel county 412 

Lyman county 412 

M 

Machinery, farm, value in I860, 1870 

1880, and 1885 266 

Manufactories 278 

Manufactories, growth or 14 

Map, cross section of Black Hills for- 
mation 169 

Map, geological of the Black Hills 176-177 

Map oi known coal area 160-161 

Marble 157-159, 176 

Married women, legal rights of. 305 

Marshall county 412 

Martin county 411 

McCook county 414 

AicHenry county 416 

Mcintosh county 418 

McKenzie county 419 

McLean county 419 

McPberson county 421 

Mercer county 428 

Mever countv 425 

Mica ' 161,176 

Milch cows, oxen, etc, comparative 

tabic 130 

Milch cows, oxen, etc., number in each 

county 815-491 

Milch c>'\\s, etc., number and value 

in United Stales 149 

Milk, product in 188b, in each countv.. 

815-491 

Mineral deposits, map showing 176-177 

Mineral resources 152-178 

Mineral resources, of Black Hills.. 167-177 

Miner county 425 

Minnehaha county 427 

Mines, school of 210-218 

Mitchell land district 293 

Moody county 430 

Mortality statistics 67 

Mortgages, law of 304 

Morton county 432 

Mountains and hills 28-29 

Mountraille county 434 

Mules in each county 815-491 

Mules, number in 1886, comparative 

tableof 140 

Mules, number and value in Uuited 
States 149 



N 



Navigable streams 72- 75 

Natural gas 153-157 

Nelson county 434 

Newspapers 247-248 

Newspapers in each county 3i5-49l 

Newspapers, comparative table of. 248 

Newton, Prof. Henry, map of Black 
Hills 169 



496 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA.— INDEX. 



Nitrogen in corn, comparative table of 97 

Normal school, Madison 204-207 

Normal school, Spearfisb 208-209 

Northern Pacific land grant, area of.... 292 

Notes and bills of exchange, law of 303 

Nowlin comity 436 

Number of farms in each county... 315-491 



Oats 101-103 

Oats, crop in 1860, 1870, 1880, 1885, and 

1887 101-102 

Oats crop of 1886, comparative table . ... 103 

Officers, land 291-293 

Officers of each county, etc 315-491 

Officers, Territorial, salary, etc 4-5 

Oil 159 

Oliver county 437 

Oxen, milch cows, etc., comparative 

table 130 

Oxen, etc., number and value in U. S... 149 
Oxen, etc., in each county 315 491 



Pembina county 438 

Penitentiary. Bismarck 227 

Penitentiary. Sioux Falls 225 

Penitentiaries, prisoners confined in, 

compared with population 237 

Pennington county 440 

Petroleum 159 

Pierce county 443 

Pierre university 217 

Plaster of Paris 163-164, 176 

Population comparati\e table of 273 

Popular n in each county 315-491 

Population in 1860. 1870. 1880, 1885, and 

1887 274 

Population. Indian 251 

Postoffices 278 

Postoffice address, Territorial Officials. 4-5 
Postoffice address, county officials.. 315-491 

Postoffices in each county 315-491 

Postoffices, number of, comparative 

table 279 

Potato crop m 1860, 1870, 1880. and 1885. 105 

Potato crop, 1885, by counties 315 491 

Potter county 443 

Potter's clay 163-164, 177 

Pratt county 445 

Precipitation, annual, and monthly 

average.... 58 

Precipitation. April, avarage 60 

Precipitation. May, average 61 

Precipitation, June, average 62 

Precipit tion, July, average 63 

Precipitation, August, average 64 

Precipitation, September, average 65 

Precipitation, during growing months, 

averag 66 

Pre-emption law 280 

Pre-emption relinquishments 286 

Presho county 445 

Prisoners in penitentiaries, compared 

with population 237 

Progress and development in 1887.... 7- 15 

Proof, final, rules of 284 

Public buildings 197-215. 225-234 

Public buildings, amount invested in.. 233 
Public domain, area taken, by years.... 276 
Public domain, how to obtain title 

to the 280-287 

Public domain, settlement of 271-277 

Public domain, settlement of in six 

years, comparative table 277 

Public domain, remaining vacant 2,5 

Public schools 191-196 



Public schools, exhibit of growth of... 192 
Public schools, expenditures for, com- 
parative table 194 

Pyatt county 445 

Q. 

Quartzite 157-159 



11. 



Railroads 242-246. 11- 14 

Railroads in each county 315-491 

Railroad extensions n_ 14 

Railroads in each state, etc.. compara- 
tive table 246 

Rainfall, annual and monthly average 58 

Rainfall, April, average 60 

Rainfall. May. average 61 

Rainfall, June, average 62 

Rainfall. July, average 63 

Rain'all, August, average 64 

Rainfall, September, average 65 

Rainfall, during growing xnonths 66 

Ramsey county 445 

Ransom county 448 

Redfield college 220-221 

Reform school 231-234 

Religious intelligence 235-241 

Religions, statistics, table of 238 

Relinquishments, rules of 286 

Renville county 450 

Representatives, number of 20 

Reservations, Indian 250-259 

Reservations Indian, area of 292 

Reservations, Indian, allotments in 

severalty of 253-256 

Reservation, Indi ui. Fort Bert-hold 259 

Reservation, Indian, Great Sioux.. 256-258 
Reservation, Indian, Turtle Mountains 

258-259 

Richland county 450 

Rinenart county..., J52 

Rivers and lakes 72- 76 

Roberts county 453 

Rolette county 454 

Rye 101-102 

Rye crop, in 1860, 1880. 1885 1887 101-102 



Sanborn county 456 

Sandstone 157-159.176 

Salary of Territorial officials .' 4-5 

Sargent county 458 

Sehnasse county 461 

Schools 191-224 

School, agricultural college 197-199 

School, All Saints 219-220 

School. Arvilla academy 221 

School, Augustana college 222 

Schools, commercial and business 222 

School, Dakota university 216-217 

School, deaf mute .' 213-215 

Schoo's, exhibit of groAvth of 192 

Schools, expenditures for, comparative 

table 194 

School, Fargo college 221 

School, Groton college 218-219 

Schools. Indian 222-224 

School. Jamestown college 221 

School lands, area of 292 

School. Madison normal 204-207 

School of mines 210-213 

School, Pierre university 217 

School, Redfield college.' 220-221 

School reform 231-234 

School, Sioux Falls university 217-218 

School, Spearfish normal 208-209 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA.-INDEX. 



497 



School statistics of each county 315-491 

School, Tower university 221 

School, university of Dakota 202-204 

School, university of north Dakota. 19S-202 

School, Yankton college 215-216 

Scob«y countv 461 

Settlers, information for 310-312 

Settlement, early 22- 24 

Settlement of the public domain... 271-277 
Settlement of public lands, from 1875 

to 1887 276 

Settlement in six years, comparative 

table 277 

Severalty, allotments in 253-256 

Shannon county 461 

Sheridan county 461 

Sheep, cost of raising 139 

Sheep in each oounty 315-491 

Sheep in 1886, comparative table of 147 

Sheep, number and value in United 

States 149 

Sheep, wool clip in 1870, 1880. and 1885.. 151 

Signal stations, weather 46 

Silver and gold 170-173 

Silver and gold, product from 1877 to 

1887 178 

Sioux Falls university 217-218 

Sioux Indian reservation 256-258 

Snowfall, comparative table of. 55 

Snow on ground, end of March 56 

Soil 32- 42 

Soil, analyses of 38- 40 

Soldiers homestead law 283 

Sorghum 111-112 

Spink county".'.:.-. 461 

Stanley county 464 

Stark county 464 

State and county indebtedness, per 

capita, comparative table of 269 

Statehood, legislation with respect to , 

17 -19 
Statntesof the U. S., extracts from.. 297-299 

Steele county .'. 466 

Sterling county 468 

Stevens countv 468 

Stock 129-151 

Stock, cost of raising cattle 146-149 

Stock, cost of raising horses 149 

Srock, cost of raising sheep 139 

Stock in each county 315-491 

Stock, hogs, number of, comparative 

table 144 

Stock horses, number of, comparative 

table 134 

Stock, number farm animals, in 

United States, etc 149 

Stock, mules, number of, compara- 
tive table 140 

Stock, oxen, cows, etc, number of, 

comparative table 130 

Stock, sheep, number of, comparative 

table 147 

Stock, value of, in 1860, 1870, 1880, 1885 

and 1887 129 

Stone for building 157-159, 176 

Stutsman county 468 

Sugar beets .* 111-112 

Suits at law 305 

Sully county 471 

Surveys, Government, how made. .. 288-290 

Swine, comparative table for 1886 144 

Swine in each county 315-491 

Swine, number in United States, etc... 149 



Table, analyses of soils.... 
Table, analyses of wheat. 
Table, analyses of corn... 



Table, analyses of coal 160 

Table, analyses artesian waters 185 

Table, analysts of water from the Hot 

Springs 168 

Table, altitudes 189-190 

Table, acreage in farms, 1860, 1870, 1880. 

and 1885 266 

| Table, area of states, etc., comparative 

26- 27 
Table, area acquired by settlement, 

comparative 277 

Table, area disposed of, etc 292 

Table, artesian wells, depth, pressure 

etc 186-187 

Table, artesian wells, strata pene- 
trated by 188 

Table, assessed value lands, 1881 to 

1887 266 

Table, assessed valuation 1879 to 1887. ..'264 
Table, barley crop in 1860, 1870, 1880.' 

1885 and 1887 101-102 

Table, buckwheat crop in 1860, 1870, 

1880, 1885, and 1887 102 

Table, banks, number of etc, compara- 
tive 302 

Table, church statistics 238 

Table, clear, fair and cloudy days. 

comparative etc 56- 57 

Table, corn ciop in 1860, 1870,1880, 1885, 

and 1887 96 

Table, corn crop of each state in 1886 

comparative 94 

Table, farm animals in United States, 

etc 149 

Table, farm machinery, value in I860 

1870. 1880 and 1885 266 

Table, farms, value in 1860, 1870, 1880, 

and 1885 265 

Table, gold and silver product 178 

Table, hav crop in 1860, 1870, 1880. 1885, 

and 1887 110 

Table, hogs in each state, etc.; in 1886 

comparative 144 

Table, horses in each state, etc., in 

1886, comparative 134 

Table, indebtedness, county 267-268 

Table, indebtedness, state, etc., per 

capita, comparative 269 

Table, Indian agencies 251 

Table, Indian population 251 

Table, Indian reservations 250 

Table, live stock in 1860. 1870, 1880, 

1885, and 1887 129 

Table, mortality statistics 67 

Table, mules in each state, etc., in 

1886, comparative 140 

Table, newspapers in each state in 

1887, comparative 248 

Table, oats crop in 1860, 1870, 1880, 1885, 

and 1887 101-102 

Table, oats crop, in each state, etc., 
comparative 103 

Table, oxen, etc., in each state, com- 
parative 130 

Table, population of each state, etc , 
comparative 273 

Table, population in 1860, 1870, 1880. 
1885, and 1887 274 

Table, postoffices, number in each 
state, etc., comparative 279 

Table, potato crop in 1860, J870, 1880, 
and 1885 105 

Table, prisoners in penitentiaries, com- 
pared with population 237 

Table, public buildings, amount in- 
vested in 233 

Tables, public land entries year end- 
ing June 30. 1887 272 



498 



RESOURCES OF DAKOTA.— INDEX. 



Table, public lands entered from 1875 

to 1887 276 

Table, public lauds remaining vacant. 275 

Table, public schools, trrowth of 192 

Table, public schools expenditures, 

comparative 194 

Table, railway mileage in each state 

etc., comparative 246 

Table, rainfall, average, annual, and 

monthly 58 

Table, rainfall, April on 

Table, rainfall May 61 

Table, rainfall, June 62 

Table, rainfall, July 63 

Table, rainfall, August 64 

Table, rainfall, September 65 

Table, rainfall during growing months 66 
Table, leceipts and disbursements, 

Territorial 263 

Table, rye crop in 1860, 188U. 1»85, and 

1887 101-102 

Table, sheep in each state, etc., com- 
parative 147 

Table, snowfall, comparative 55 

Table snow on ground end of March, 

comparative '. 56 

Table, tax levy, average Territorial, 

1881 to 1887 266 

Table, temperature, annual and 

monthly, etc 47 

Table, temperature, comparative 48 

Table, temperature, winter months 55 

Table, temperature, October 49 

Table, temperature, November 50 

Table, temperature, December 51 

Table, temperature, January 52 

Table, temperature, February 53 

Table, temperature. March 54 

Table, timber culture final proofs 124 

Table, wheat, cost of raising, yield, etc 

81- 83 
Table, wheat crop in each state, etc, 

comparative 87 

Table, wheat crop in I860, 1870 1880, 

1885, and 1887 : 92 

Table, wheat crop of the world. 1886.... 90 
Table, wheat imported by Great 

Britain 91 

Table, wheat inspected at Minneapolis, 

etc 89 

Table, wheat, food taken from soil by.. 34 

Table, weather reports 46- 66 

Table, wool clip in 1870, 1880, and 1885. 151 

Taxation, exemptions from 295-296 

Taxes, become due when, etc 305 

Tax levy, average Territorial, 1881 to 

1887 266 

Temperature, comparative 48 

Temperature, mean annual and 

monthly 47 

Temperature, winter mouths, average 

of 55 

Temperature, October.. 49 

Temperature, November 50 

Temperature, December 51 

Temperature, January 52 

Temperature, February 53 

Temperature, March 54 

Timber 118-120 

Timber culture law, trees planted 

under 123-125 

Timber culture law 285 

Timber culture, relinquishment, rule 

of. 286 

Timothy 107-110 

Tin 173-176 

Todd county 472 

Topography of Dakota.. 27- 29 

Tower university 221 



Towner county 473 

Towns, important, of each eoui.tv. 315-491 

Traill county .-. 474 

Trees, cultivated 121-128 

Trees, planted on Arbor Day 127-128 

Turner county 477 

Turtle Mountains Indian reservation.. 

258-259 

u 

United States statutes, extracts from... 

297- 299 

Union county 479 

University of Dakota 2,/2-2l>4 

University. Mitchell 216-217 

University of north Dakota 199-2^2 

University, Pierre 2L7 

University. Sioux Falls 217-218 

University. Tower City 221 

V 

Valuation, assessed. Territorial 1879- 

1887 264 

Valuation, assessed, per acre, average 263 
Valuation per acre, average in each 

county 315-491 

Value of farms in I860 1870, 1880, and 

1885 265 

Value of farm machinery in 1860, 1870, 

1880. and 1885 266 

Valuation statistics of each county.. 315-491 

Vegetables 104-105 

Vegetables, sugar beets 111-112 

w 

Wagner county 481 

Wallace county 481 

Walsh county... 481 

Walworth couuty 484 

Ward county - 488 

Washabaugh county 487 

Washington county 487 

Watertown land district 293 

Water in wheat, comparative table of.. 78 

Weather reports, tables of 46-66 

Wells 77 

Wells, artesian 179- 188 

Wells, artesian, analyses of water from 185 

Wells, artesian, depth, pressure, ate 

186-187 
Wells, artesian, strata penetrated by... 188 

Wells county 487 

Wheat 78- 92 

Wheat analyse! of, comparative tabla.. 78 
Wheat, amount inspected at Minne- 
apolis, etc 89 

Wheat, Centennial award, fac simile of 79 

Wheat, cost of raising 80- 84 

Wheat croniu 1860, 1870, 1880, 1885, and 

1887 12 

Wheat crop of each state, etc., in 1886, 

comparative 87 

Wheat crop of the world in 1886 90 

Wheat imported by Great Britain 91 

Wheat, food taken from the soil by 34 

Williams county 489 

Women, married, legal rights of. 305 

Wool clip m 1870. 1880, and 1885 151 

Wool clip in 1885 by counties S15-491 

Y 

Yankton college 215-216 

Yankton county 489 

Yankton land district 293 

z 

Ziebach county 491 



LE '08 



Imm i g ration for the purpose , o ^J^J^ to the a g ri- 
^^P^, Ma PS , an* BescripUve ™2£*£SJ£ 
COMMXSSXOK.B F BO^g^^ 



24,000,000 Acres of Government Land 

IN DAKOTA, 

STILL VACANT AND SUBJECT TO 

HOMESTEAD AND PRE-EMPT,ON, 



°«Wa, Maps and Pamph , ets D 

?ent,rR "°" application to 

-> „ P - P - MoOLURE, 

C ° mmiSSion6r °f Immigration, 

PIERRE, Dakota. 



^ 



